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RECOLLECTIONS  OF  MEXICO 


tljt  §aitlt  of 


BUENA    VISTA, 

FEB.  22  AND  23,  1847. 


BY   AN    ENGINEER   OFFICER, 

ON    ITS  TWENTY-FOURTH   ANNIVERSARY. 


UNPUBLISHED    COPY. 

FROM   THE  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE   "OLD   AND  NEW," 
FOR   JUNE   AND   JULY. 


BOSTON : 

1871. 


s 


LIBRARY 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF  MEXICO  AND  BUENA  VISTA. 


CHAPTER   I. 


[ALTHOUGH  it  has  always  been  the  in 
tention  of  the  writer  to  record  for  his  own 
satisfaction  his  memories  of  the  scenes 
occurring  in  Mexico,  at  or  about  the  time 
of  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  this  record 
might  have  been  procrastinated,  — just 
as  repentance  is  too  often  said  to  be, 
—  but  for  a  feeling  of  duty  towards  an 
association  of  gentlemen,  each  of  whom 
contributes  for  the  general  information 
from  the  stores  of  his  own  professional 
knowledge.  Even  now  this  is  offered 
with  some  hesitation,  because  this  bat 
tle,  which  appeared  to  us  and  to  the 
country  as  of  such  great  importance  at 
the  time,  is  mm*  dwarfed  into  insignifi 
cance  by  the  giant  struggles  of  these  later 
days,  whose  warriors  were  counted  by 
millions,  and  Tneir  dead  by  hundreds  of 
thousands,  —  which  gave  an  emperor  to  re 
united  Germany,  and  a  president  to  the  re- 
United  States.  Yet  this  lesser  struggle, 
where  our  soldiers  were  but  as  many  thou 
sands,  and  our  dead  as  many  hundreds, 
was  still  the  bloodiest  strife  that  our  coun 
try  had  ever  then  known.  And  this  victory 
likewise  gave  a  president  to  our  great 
country. 

This  narrative  is  offered  really  from  per 
sonal  recollections  only,  first  written  down 
within  a  very  few  days  recently,  as  an  of 
fering  to  the  association  above  alluded  to. 
But  the  recollection  of  these  events  has 
so  crowded  upon  the  memory,  that  much 
may  appear  to  be  of  minor  detail  and 
of  lesser  interest.  Yet  there  may  be  an 
excuse  for  introducing  many  of  these  in 
cidents  which  would  scarcely  become  the 
graver  page  of  history,  except,  perhaps, 
as  its  foot-notes,  as  it  appeared  there 
might  be  more  of  life  and  interest  to  the 
narrative,  in  the  writer's  being  able  to  say 
'I  saw,'  instead  of  'I  have  read'  or 
'  heard.'  And  all  of  this  he  may  say  he 
saw,  or  had  from  the  eye-witnesses  within 
a  very  few  days  after.  Nothing  is  from  the 
record  of  others,  or  even  from  his  own 
letters,  orders,  or  notes,  excepting  only 


the  maps  made  by  himself,  and  a  glance 
at  a  single  page  of  statistics  from  Captain 
(  now  General  )  Carlton's  book,  the  only 
history  of  this  battle  as  yet  published. 

It  is  perhaps  at  times  more  difficult  in 
this  profession  than  in  any  other  to  re 
late  what  has  been  seen,  without  appear 
ing,  however  unconsciously,  to  play  the 
the  role  of  "  magna  parsfui."  It  is  more 
rare  to  write,  than  to  fi^ht,  like  the  great 
Roman ;  to  do  both,  the  world's  verdict 
gives  but  to  himself. 

But  the  subordinate  position  of  a  lieu 
tenant  must  avert  the  suspicion  of  assump 
tion  here  ;  while,  as  an  engineer,  the  calls 
to  the  many  various  portions  of  such  a 
field  would  make  it  a  duty  to  see  if  possi 
ble,  if  not  even  to  record,  every  circum 
stance  that  occurred.] 

It  will  be  remembered  by  our  older 
friends,  that  the  war  of  1846-48  for 
Texas  was  mainly  a  Southern  war, 
and  principally  for  the  benefit  of  a 
''domestic  institution'/ now  happily  ex 
isting  no  more  among  us ;  though  the 
North,  as  in  duty  bound,  when  the 
whole  country  was  involved,  bore  its 
fair,  full  share  in  the  struggle. 

Yet,  as  showing  what  slight  causes 
actually  precipitated  that  war,  I  may 
mention,  as  of  interest,  a  single  sen 
tence,  that  many  years  after  I  acci 
dentally  heard  brought  out  at  a  din 
ner-table,  from  the  speaker  himself, 
Mr.  Benton,  which,  as  I  believe,  had 
more  effect-  than  all  things  else  to 
bring  on  the  actual  conflict. 

A  barbarous  war  of  nine  years 
having  been  waged  ineffectually  by 
Mexico  to  reduce  the  revolted  State 
of  Texas,  and  the  acts  for  annexa 
tion  to  the  United  States  having  been 
passed  by  Texas  and  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Calhoun,  then  in  the  Sen- 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


ate,  had  advised  the  President,  Polk, 
to  recommend  that  Texas  should  be 
held  by  us  in  armed  neutrality,  and 
the  December  Message  of  1845  was 
actually  written  out  accordingly. 
But  Mr.  Benton  happening  to  walk 
from  church  that  first  Sunday  in  De 
cember  with  Mr.  Polk,  he  remained 
closeted  with  him  till  two  in  the 
morning,  and  urged  him  against  such 
a  plan ;  his  closing,  and  as  it  seems 
unanswerable  argument,  being  the 
question,  "  Will  you,  then,  sit  it  out 
with  that  Spanish  race  that  his  sat 
it  out  for  one  thousand  years  and 
conquered; — for  three  hundred  years 
with  the  Visigoths,  and  after  that  for 
seven  '  hundred  years  with  the 
Moors  ?  " 

The  result  is  known  ;  and  the  two 
columns  of  attack  were  organized 
that  winter,  —  one,  of  some  two  thou 
sand  men,  under  Gen.  Wool,  to  strike 
through  Texas  upon  the  upper  Rio 
Grande ;  and  another,  under  Gen. 
Taylor,  to  enter  Mexico  by  Matamo- 
ras  near  the  mouth  of  that  river. 

The  latter  column,  as  is  known, 
after  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Re- 
sacca,  near  Matamoras,  in  May, 
1846,  and  that  of  Monterey,  some  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  to  the  south 
west,  in  September,  found  itself  in 
possession  of  Saltillo,  some  fifty- 
six  miles  south-west  of  Monterey, 
and  over  one  hundred  miles  from 
Comargo  on  the  Rio  Grande,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  year  1847.  In 
Gen.  Taylor's  front,  or  southward 
some  twenty  miles,  at  Agua  Nueva, 
and  under  his  orders,  lay  the  column 
of  Gen.  AVool,  which  was  resting  after 
a  long  and  circuitous  march  to  reduce 
the  Mexican  states  of  Chihuahua  and 
Coahuila  at  the  north. 

During  the  autumn  of  1846,  Gen. 
Taylor,  after  repeated  and  ineffectual 
calls  for  more  troops  to  enable  him  to 


penetrate  into  the  interior  of  Mexico 
towards  the  capital,  hearing  that  an 
other  army  was  being  prepared  by 
Gen.  Scott  for  an  attack  on  the  shorter 
land-route  by  Vera  Cruz,  with  a  mag 
nanimity  that  is  rare,  perhaps  un 
exampled,  with  commanding  generals 
of  armies,  wrote  to  the  Department 
( as  I  recollect  he  himself  stated  to 
me  ),  that  if  they  could  not  re-enforce 
him,  as  he  had  more  men  than  were 
necessary  simply  to  hold  his  positions, 
he  could  spare  a  portion  of  his  troops 
for  Gen.  Scott's  line  ;  and  he  thought 
"they  had  better  form  one  strong 
column,  than  keep  up  two  weak  ones." 

How  was  this  proposition  met  by 
Ge-n.  Scott,  who  had  the  full  power  to 
organize  his  own  column  ?  I  must 
speak  it  plainly,  for  justice  to  both 
those  dead  heroes  requires  it.  Gen. 
Scott  did  as  most  other  generals,  it  is 
true,  under  like  circumstances  have 
done  and  would  do,  with  the  natural 
human  feeling  that  they  must  at  least 
make  themselves  strong,  at  all  hazards 
to  others  (as  I  could  name  several  like 
instances  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion), 
—  Gen.  Scott  withdrew  every  regular 
bayonet,  the  only  disciplined  infantry, 
from  the  column  of  Gen.  Taylor,  and 
ordered  every  battery  of  artillery  but 
two  (together  of  eight  guns  only)  to 
join  his  army  for  Vera  Cruz.  These 
two  batteries  were  Sherman's  and 
Bragg' s,  of  four  pieces  each  ;  the  third 
and  last  one  ordered  away  by  Scott, 
was  Washington's  of  eight  guns  (ori 
ginally  of  six,  but  it  had  two  cap 
tured  Mexican  guns  added  to  it  by 
Lieut.  (  now  Gen.  )  Kingsbury,  the 
ordnance  officer  at  this  battle). 

Santa  Ana,  the  most  able,  as  he 
was  the  most  unscrupulous,  of  all  the 
Mexican  chieftains,  was  apprised  of 
this  immediately;  for  he  knew  all 
the  movements  and  numbers  of  our 
troops  as  well  as  we  did  ourselves  j  and 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Bitena  Vista. 


he  at  once  commenced  tlie  organiza 
tion  of  the  grandest  army  of  trained 
troops  that  Mexico  had  ever  known, 
to  overwhelm,  to  put  to  death,  as  they 
would  have  done,  the  whole  army  of 
Gen.  Taylor.  I  say  put  to  death  ;  for, 
besides  this  army  of  six  to  eight  times 
our  numbers  in  our  front,  he  had 
some  four  thousand  ranchero  guerillas 
in  our  rear,  the  well-understood  orders 
among  them  being,  as  prisoners  ad 
mitted  to  me,  to  put  to  death  every 
one  they  had  power  to  kill.  This 
even  Santa  Ana  himself  virtually 
admitted  to  Col.  Bliss,  our  adjutant- 
general,  on  his  personal  application 
for  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  saying 
"  We  have  but  three  prisoners ;  the 
rest  are  dead."  Indeed,  I  believe  but 
one  life  was  saved  of  all  our  men 
taken  on  that  field,  —  an  Illinois  man, 
afterwards  the  master  of  my  engineer 
train.  Lieut.  Sturgis  and  his  dragoon 
taken  by  Minon  were  the  other  two. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  a  defeat  or 
rout  in  that  battle  must  have  been 
death  to  all,  as  had  been  the  case  in 
repeated  instances,  with  the  Texans, 
by  that  blood-thirsty  race. 

These  remarks  may  be  necessary 
for  a  better  understanding  of  our 
position  in  January  and  the  early 
part  of  February,  1847.  At  this  time 
I  became  a  personal  witness  of  most 
of  the  events  that  took  place,  having 
landed  at  the  Brazos  in  the  latter  part 
of  January,  where  I  found  Gen.  Scott 
and  his  staff,  then  organizing  the 
regular  troops  that  were  coming.down 
the  Rio  Grande  in  force,  with  Worth 
in  command  of  them,  and  Robert  E. 
Lee,  Scott's  favorite  officer,  as  cap 
tain  of  engineers,  all  withdrawn  from 
Gen.  Taylor.  Arid  I  carried  up  the 
news,  which  the  General  could  not  at 
that  time  credit  ( though  fortunately 
the  order  was  not  received  until  after 
the  battle),  of  the  withdrawal  of 


another,  and  that  the  largest,  of  the 
three  batteries  of  artillery  yet  left 
with  Gen.  Taylor.  Part  of  that  very 
battery  so  ordered,  O'Brien's  guns7 
was  captured  on  the  field  of  Buena 
Vista,  and  afterwards  retaken  by  Gen. 
Scott's  army  on  the  other  line  near 
Mexico. 

Many  may  recollect  the  complete 
isolation  of  Gen.  Taylor's  command, 
and  the  consequent  anxiety  of  their 
friends  at  home  for  many  weeks  even, 
after  the  favorable  result  of  that  bat 
tle.  Secretary  Marcy  wrote  urgent 
letters  of  alarm  to  Scott,  one  month 
after.  I  will  mention  some  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  journey  to  join 
the  General,  to  show  how  completely 
he  was  invested.  At  Comargo,  the 
depot  and  then  head  of  navigation  on 
the  Bio  Grande,  there  was  a  belief 
that  Gen.  Urrea,  with  three  thousand 
lancers,  lay  in  our  way  to  Monterey, 
to  intercept  all  communication  and  to 
capture  all  trains.  There  were  sever 
al  such  trains,  of  some  forty  to  sixty 
wagons  each,  with  six  specie-wagons, 
and  some  twenty  officers  or  more  go 
ing  to  rejoin  their  regiments.  I  was 
requested  to  take  the  direction  of  these 
trains  and  of  their  encampments,  &c. ; 
to  which  I  assented  on  condition  that 
the  teamsters  should  be  armed,  to 
strengthen,  in  case  of  necessity,  our 
weak  force  of  only  one  company  of 
infantry  as  our  escort. 

Our  marches,  often  by  the  designed 
delay  of  the  train-masters,  were  from 
five  to  twelve  miles  a  day  only ;  and 
our  camps  for  the  night  were  made  on 
three  and  a  half  sides  of  a  rectangle, 
with  the  escort  proper,  at  the  opening. 
The  treasure  trains  and  officers'  wag 
ons  were  in  two  lines  in  the  centre, 
and  the  train-wagons  distributed  in 
three  lines  round  the  square,  closing 
intervals,  and  having  the  mules  with 
their  defensive  heels  outside  their  re- 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena  Vista. 


spective  wagons,  altogether  the  best 
position  for  them,  and  greatly 
strengthening  our  defence.  By  this 
arrangement,  though  daily  warned 
that  we  were  to  be  attacked  at  night 
by  Urrea,  we  safely  made  the  week's 
journey  to  Monterey,  being  the  last 
train  or  body  of  Americans  of  any 
size  that  passed  over  that  route  for 
one  month  or  more. 

Our  train-masters  were,  some  of 
them,  the  most  accomplished  of  the 
villains  that  are  always  found  among 
the  camp-followers  of  an  army  in  the 
field,  — the  chief  wagon-master  being 
afterwards,  as  I  heard,  the  head  of  a 
gang  of  robbers  on  that  very  route ; 
and  the  teamsters,  with  arms  in  their 
hands  for  their  own  defence,  not  being 
restrained  by  these  train-masters  (as 
they  could  not  be  by  the  small  volun 
teer  escort),  committed  such  outrages 
upon  the  inhabitants  along  the  route, 
especially  near  the  half-way  village, 
Cerralvo,  that  I  declined  to  retain 
control  of  the  train  for  the  last  day 
or  two.  The  teamsters  of  the  next 
train  up  from  Comargo,  some  ten  days 
after,  having  been  refused  those  arms, 
were  destroyed  by  the  very  forces  that 
had  threatened  our  own  route.  The 
animosity  of  the  Mexicans  had  been 
aroused  to  such  a  degree,  that,  as  I 
recollect  it,  not  a  single  teamster  out 
of  the  eighty  men  escaped.  The  lan 
cers  riding  rapidly  down  the  line 
speared  every  man,  as  he  sat  on  his 
mule  or  wagon-box ;  and  then  break 
up  the  wagons,  after  plundering  them, 
they  piled  up  the  bodies  with  the 
debris,  and  emptying  the  tar-pots  on 
the  heads  of  the  victims,  they  fired 
and  consumed  them  in  one  common 
mass, —  one  of  the  most  frightful 
episodes  of  that  barbarous  war,  —  of 
aggression  I  must  say,  on  our  part, 
though  perhaps  mainly  justifiable  from 
being  waged  against  such  a  savage  race. 


I  may  add  here,  that  no  other 
train  passed  this  route  till  many  days 
after  the  battle,  when  the  down-train, 
with  the  full  despatches,  even  after 
victory,  as  was  necessary  still,  was  es 
corted  by  a  battalion  of  infantry  and 
two  pieces  of  artillery.  The  previous 
knowledge  of  our  success  was  given 
by  slips  of  paper  only,  carried  by 
bribed  Mexicans,  of  whom  five  in  all, 
as  reported,  were  started  from  Mon 
terey  ;  and  of  these  but  two  reached 
Comargo,  the  first,  leaving  with  the 
paper  tied  under  the  heavy  mane  of 
his  almost  wild  horse,  which  he  said 
no  one  could  catch  but  himself. 
When  pursued  by  the  guerillas,  he 
feigned  to  fall  from  this  horse,  which 
bore  away  the  tell-tale  despatch  ;  while 
a  thorough  search  of  his  clothing  re 
vealed  nothing.  His  ready  excuse 
of  a  visit  to  a  sick  son  at  Comargo 
being  accepted,  he  was  released ;  and 
after  two  days  spent  in  recovering  the 
animal,  at  length  he  made  the  journey 
—  an  affair  usually  of  one  day  for  a 
horseman  —  in  five  days,  and  brought 
the  first  news  of  our  success  that 
reached  the  United  States. 

The  usual  penalty  of  these  Mexi 
cans  detected  as  our  spies  or  couriers, 
was  hanging  alive  by  the  heels  to  the 
trees  by  the  road-side.  A  few  weeks 
after  this,  the  withered  remains  of  one 
of  these  couriers  (sent  up  by  Col.  Mor 
gan  of  Ohio  from  Comargo)  were  dis 
covered,  so  suspended,  with  the  ap 
pearance  of  death  in  great  agony,  the 
despatches  having  been  detected  in 
their  place  of  deposit,  sewed  up  be 
tween  the  inner  and  outer  sole  of  the 
shoe. 

Within  a  day  or  two  after  our  ar 
rival  at  Monterey,  with  the  large  train 
as  described,  as  we  found  no  troops 
or  escort  en  route  to  Saltillo,  and  we 
were  anxious  to  reach  the  advanced 
forces  as  early  as  possible  before  the 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


expected  battle,  Capt.  T.  W.  Sherman 
(now  Gen.  Sherman,  who  lost  his  leg 
«,t  Port  Hudson)  with  myself,  decided 
to  start  without  escort.  We  had 
with  us  one  other  person,  Dr.  Gregg,1 
as  a  companion,  and  he  but  for  a  few 
miles  only.  We  had  trusted  greatly 
to  his  twenty- two  revolver  charges ; 
but  he  soon  left  us,  to  visit  a  Mexican 
friend 'near  the  route. 

We  rode  along  the  fifty  miles, 
through  the  robber  pass  of  the  Ein- 
conada,  with  scarcely  a  suspicion  of 
especial  danger,  though  constantly 
meeting  parties  of  five  to  ten  or  fif 
teen  Mexicans,  mostly  herdsmen 
(while  some,  as  we  had  reason  to 
know  afterwards,  were  robbers),  who 
had  been  warned  by  their  people,  and 
were  removing  their  flocks  and  cattle 
from  the  vicinity  of  the  expected  con 
test.  The  withdrawing  of  these 
herds,  as  we  found  on  reaching  camp, 
was  the  first  of  the  assured  signs  of 
the  approach  of  the  attacking  force, 
of  which  the  rumors,  in  most  doubt 
ful  shape,  had  been  rife  in  those 
camps  for  many  weeks. 

I  reached  the  head-quarter  camp 
at  Agua  Nueva  in  the  first  week  of 
February,  and  joined  the  staff  as  the  as 
sistant  to  the  other  military  engineer, 
Bvt.-Major,  the  late  Gen.  Mansfield 
(since  killed  at  Antietam).  I  may 
here  mention,  on  reporting  to  Gen. 
Taylor,  a  mark  of  that  kindness  of 
his  which  endeared  him  so  much  to 
all,  —  the  invitation  to  his  mess  till  my 
own  arrangements  could  be  made, — 
a  courtesy  of  which  the  value  can  be 
fully  known  only  by  one  who  has 
reached  an  army  in  the  field  with 
only  his  clothing  and  blankets,  and 
which,  offered  by  a  commanding  gen- 

1  This  Dr.  Gregg,  the  author  of  an  interesting 
work,  "  The  Commerce  of  the  Prairies, "  was  a 
daring  explorer  and  prominent  Mexican  trader ;  but, 
after  many  years  of  exposure  among  the  Mexicans 
and  savages,  he  was  killed,  a  few  years  later,  by 
the  Indians  of  California. 


eral  to  one  of  his  lieutenants,  cannot 
be  forgotten. 

This  Agua  Nueva  was  a  small  vil 
lage  or  collection  of  huts  of  adobes, 
the  large  unburnt  bricks  of  the  coun 
try.  It  was  about  twenty  «miles  in 
advance,  or  south,  of  Saltillo ;  and  the 
road  passed  through  a  narrow  valley, 
in  which  was  the  hacienda  farm  and 
pass  of  Buena  Vista,  four  to  five 
miles  from  Saltillo. 

The  camp  at  Agua  Nueva  was  in 
the  broad  eastern  end  of  a  narrow 
valley,  extending  to  the  west,  and 
where  the  Jiast  running  water  was  to 
be  found  in  the  journey  from  Saltillo 
south  for  one  hundred  and  thirty  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  beyond, 
and  towards  the  large  and  rich  city 
of  San  Luis  Potosi,  which  had  been 
the  objective  point  of  attack  by  Gen. 
Taylor.  This  ranch  was  the  central 
position  of  a  dark  and  bloody  ground, 
on  the  main  mountain-gorge  pass 
from  Central  to  Northern  Mexico,  in 
which,  within  a  half-day's  ride  north 
or  south,  this  century  has  witnessed 
some  five  or  six  bloody  battles,  or 
massacres,  besides  those  of  Monterey 
at  its  debouch  at  the  north.  At  eight 
miles  south  of  Agua  Nueva,  in  1810, 
the  Mexicans  under  Hidalgo  defeated 
the  Spaniards  under  Cordero.  In 
1811,  about  sixteen  miles  south-east, 
the  Mexican  Gen.  Royon  defeated  the 
Spaniards  under  Melgara.  In  1841, 
two  miles  south  af  Saltillo,  the  Mexi 
cans  and  Indians  had  a  battle ;  and 
in  1842,  four4  or  five  miles  south-west, 
Col.  Jordan  of  Texas  fought  the 
Mexicans :  while  in  January,  1847, 
Majors  Gains  and  Borland,  of  our 
forces,  were  captured  at  Ericarnacion 
by  the  Mexicans; 'and,  as  it  proved, 
in  February,  1847,  this  battle  of 
Buena  Vista,  the  crowning  contest 
of  them  all,  ^  was  fought  five  miles 
south  of  Saltillo. 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


The  Hacienda  of  Encarnacion, 
thirty  miles  south  of  Agua  Nueva, 
was  an  "  estancia,"  or  stock -ranch, 
supplied  with  a  bitterish  but  drink 
able  water  from  two  very  deep  wells, 
worked  by  mules.  These  wells  sup 
plied  the  many  thousands  of  the 
flocks  and  herds  that  grazed  upon  the 
adjacent  mountains,  and  resorted 
hither  once  or  twice  a  week  only,  dur 
ing  the  dry  season  of  six  or  eight 
months  each  year  without  rain.  The 
slight  dews  upon  the  grass  enabled 
the  animals  to  subsist  for  many  days 
without  water.  And  this  necessary 
of  life  was  obtained  only  from  these 
wells,  or  the  "  tanks "  formed  by 
dams  in  the  mountain  gorges,  that 
collected  and  retained  the  water  of 
the  rainy  season  for  months,  and 
sometimes  till  the  rains  of  the  suc 
ceeding  year. 

This  Encarnacion  was  an  isolated 
farm- fortress  in  fact ;  for  its  high 
corral  walls,  as  well  as  a  masonry 
parapet  at  the  roof,  were  loop-holed 
for  defences  against  the  raids  of  the 
Cornanches,  whose  custom  was  to 
sweep  down  rapidly  in  parties  of  tens 
or  hundreds,  mounted  upon  the  fleet 
est  horses  to  be  found ;  and,  if  the 
villages  were  unprotected,  they  would 
seize  the  plunder  most  desired,  in  a 
stay  of  a  few  minutes  only,  murder 
the  men  and  old  women,  and  carry 
off  the  young  women  and  girls,  and 
the  boys  of  ten  or  twelve,  for.  slavery, 
or  adoption  into  their  respective 
tribes.  The  terror  th at  these  Indians 
inspired  in  the  Mexicans  was  inde 
scribable.  They  feared  fifty  Indians, 
on  account  of  these  cruelties,  more 
than  three  hundred  Americans,  though 
fifty  Americans  would  attack  and  de 
feat  hundreds  of  the  savages.  The 
rapidity  of  their  attack  may  be  well 
judged  of,  when,  in  one  of  their  raids 
on  Agua  Nueva,  after  our  army  had 


removed  towards  Saltillo,  our  careless 
picket  was  surprised :  one  of  them 
barely  escaped  with  his  life  by  mounc- 
ing  his  horse,  and  forcing  him  to 
break  his  halter  by  the  application  of 
the  cruel  Mexican  spur,  —  a  weapon 
whose  sound  alone  is  so  arranged  as 
to  urge  the  animal  on  all  ordinary  oc 
casions. 

This  ranch  of  Agua  Nueva  was 
one  of  the  large  number  of  farms  into 
which  the  country  is  divided ;  some 
with  many  thousands  of  cattle  and 
horses  and  of  sheep  and  goats  at 
tached  to  and  dependent  upon  them 
for  care  and  protection  j  while  others 
were  villages  of  hundreds  of  peons, 
—  the  peasantry  of  the  country,  who 
are  virtually  slaves  for  life  -  to  the 
ricos,  or  rich  men. 

The  owner  of  Agua  Nueva,  and  of 
the  larger  portion  of  these  ranches 
and  villages  for  some  two  hundred 
miles  or  more  to  the  north-wrest,  was 
one  Don  Jacobo  (or  Jacob)  Sanchez, 
a  gentleman  of  education  and  breed 
ing,  though  nearly  a  black  Indian  in 
appearance.  He  was  the  son,  by  an 
Indian  woman,  of  a  shrewd  and  un 
scrupulous  Spanish-Mexican  lawyer, 
who  acquired,  often  unjustly  it  was 
thought,  these  immense  properties  in 
the  troublous  times  of  the  first  revolts 
from  Spain.  Don  Jacobo  we  some 
times  saw  in  Saltillo,  where  he  had 
his  town  mansion;  though  he  gen 
erally  resided  at  his  hacienda,  some 
thirty  miles  south-west,  where  he 
lived  in  princely  style,  with  his 
private  band  of  musicians  for  his  own 
amusement.  The  hacienda  is  a  laro-e 

t) 

and  extensive  plantation,  with  the 
mansion  of  the  owner  generally; 
while  the  ranch  is  the  small  farm,  or 
peasant  village.  About  one  hundred 
miles  west  of  Agua  ISTueva  was  the 
vineyard  hacienda  of  Parras.  This 
Parras  was  owned  by  a  noble-spirited 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


gentleman,  Don  Manuel  Ibarro,  the 
master  of  two  thousand  peons.  He 
had  been  at  school  in  the  United 
States,  at  Bardstovvn  Ky.,  with  the 
son  of  Henry  Clay,  a  lieut. -colonel 
of  Gen.  Wool's  forces  at  the  time  that 
command  passed  through  Parras,  en 
route  to  Saltillo..  The  true  and  cor 
dial  Spanish-Mexican  embrace  was 
given  to  the  colonel  by  Don  Manuel, 
and  a  hearty  welcome  to  our  troops  ; 
and  our  officers  could  hardly  restrain 
him  from  turning  the  whole  army 
into  his  wine-cellars  in  his  excess  of 
hospitable  feeling  He,  with  many 
of  the  best  Mexicans,  had  an  intense 
hatred  of  the  tyranny  of  Santa  Ana, 
and  held  himself  ready  for  resistance 
to  him. 

As  instances  of  the  wealth  at  com 
mand  of  these  ricos  in  that  country, 
I  would  mention,  that  we  were  told  of 
one  gentleman,  who,  when  Santa 
Ana's  army  started  from  San  Luis  to 
cross  the  arid  desert  to  attack  us,  had 
presented  five  thousand  mules  to  that 
general  to  transport  water  for  the 
troops ;  and  of  another,  who  had 
mounted  a  whole  regiment  of  lancers 
on  horses  of  one  color,  and  that  no 
common  color  for  that  animal,  —  nan 
keen,  —  as  a  present  to  his  country. 

It  may  be  proper  to  mention  that 
the  haciendas  of  these  ricos,  especially 
those  not  their  usual  homes,  when 
they  had  such,  were  generally  under 
the  charge  of  an  "  administrador," 
of  the  class  gentleman,  with  a 
"  mayor-domo,"  a  sort  of  upper  but 
ler,  under  him,  to  direct  all  the  lesser 
details  and  lower  servants.  And 
such  mayor-domos  were  generally  in 
charge  of  the  smaller  haciendas, 
"  estancias,"  or  larger  ranches.  The 
next  class,  the  rancheros,or  small  farm 
ers,  generally  the  smallest  kind  of 
farmers,  were  of  the  mixed  white  and 
Indian  blood  of  all  shades,  with  the 


Indian  largely  predominating.  The 
next  and  lowest  class  were  the  peons, 
of  the  same  blood  and  origin  with  the 
rancheros,  being  the  household  and 
personal  servants,  the  herdsmen,  £c., 
the  actual  tillers  of  the  soil  for  others, 
and  virtually,  though  not  nominally, 
slaves,  as  completely  as  our  own  blacks 
at  the  South  have  been.  Their  masters 
always  furnished  them  their  few  pur 
chasable  necessaries  "  on  account," 
for  which  they  were  almost'always  too 
ready  to  incur  the  indebtedness.  For 
these  sums  of  some  twenty  dollars  to 
forty  dollars  only,  which  they  scarcely 
ever  expected  or  attempted  to  pay, 
their  service,  and  even  their  personal 
liberty,  was  compromised.  If  at 
tempts  were  made  to  evade  payment 
by  escaping  to  a  distance,  the  alcades, 
or  other  officers,  had  the  right  and  the 
duty  to  arrest  and  return  them,  with 
the  power  even  of  corporal  punish 
ment.  At  Monterey  and  other  places, 
I  was  told  that  our  officers,  by  the 
payment  of  such  small  sums,  freed 
many  excellent  working  men  and 
women.  In  many  cases,  most  excel 
lent  household  servants,  female  cooks, 
&c.,  had  been  held  for  such  amount 
to  the  thraldom  from  which  they  had 
had  no  hope  of  escaping  during 
their  lives. 

In  the  broader  valley  of  Agua 
Nueva,  well  supplied  with-  running 
water,  —  sometimes  wanting  for  thirty 
to  fifty  miles  in  these  mountain  ranges, 
—  lay  the  camp  of  Gen.  Taylor, 
with  about  twelve  hundred  to  fifteen 
hundred  men ;  and  quite  near,  in  a 
separate  camp,  were  the  troops  that 
Gen.  Wool  had  brought  from  Mon- 
clova  at  the  north-east,  of  nearly 
double  the  number  of  Gen.  Taylor's 
forces ;  though  all  were  under  his 
command.  Besides  this,  a  force  of 
about  six  hundred  to  seven  hundred 
was  at  the  depot  at  Saltillo.  All  wa3 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


wild  rumor  in  these  camps  as  to  the 
designs,  position,  and  numbers  of  the 
enemy,  with  absolutely  nothing  of 
certainty  known. 

^Tet  even  if  Santa  Ana  was  really 
in  front  (and  he  was  actually  at  that 
time  with  his  lar£e  force  approaching, 
if  not  really  at,  Eucarnacion,  within 
less  than  thirty  miles,  or  half  a  day's 
ride  of  us),  it  was  believed  that  we 
could  meet  and  resist  him  successfully 
in  the  one  or  two  supposed  passes  of 
these  mountains  south,  within  three 
or  four  miles,  of  Agua  Nueva. 

The  reconnoissances  of  the  engi 
neers  now  made  daily  of  their  own 
motion,  and  without  Gen.  Taylor's  or 
der,  though  instantly  reported  to  him, 
soon  developed  the  fact  that  these 
mountains  were  passable  in  every  di 
rection,  and  that  the  camps  in  this 
valley  were  in  a  most  dangerous  posi 
tion,  where  a  largely  superior  force, 
such  as  we  had  full  reason  to  believe 
was  being  organized  in  our  front, 
could  pour  down  upon  us  and  over 
whelm  us,  coming  from  different  di 
rections  through  these  many  moun 
tain  passes. 

Those  reports  that  we  made  soon 
gave  an  earnest  anxiety  to  our  usually 
imperturbable  general ;  and  during 
the  week  immediately  before  the  bat 
tle,  reconnoitring  parties,  some  of 
them  in  large  force,  were  kept  con 
stantly  out,  to  obtain  information,  al 
though  with  but  little  success  till  the 
very  last  moment.  One  large  party 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three 
hundred  cavalry  and  artillery,  under 
Capt.  (afterwards  Col.)  May,  came 
in  after  thirty-six  hours'  absence, 
with  wild  rumors  of  having  been 
driven  in,  which  were  without  doubt 
incorrect ;  for  though  a  picket-officer 
sent  out  by  him,  Lieut,  (now  Gen.) 
Sturgis,  and  one  or  two  men,  were 
lost,  they  were  not  attacked,  and  no 


enemy  was  really  seen.  This  was  in 
most  marked  contrast  to  our  own  sit 
uation,  where  every  movement,  and 
the  details  of  each  command  we  had, 
were  well  known  to  the  Mexicans. 
It  was  stated,  and  as  I  believe  cor 
rectly,  that  the  very  Friday,  three 
days  before  the  battle,  there  were 
within  and  around  our  camps  intelli 
gent  Mexican  officers,  disguised  as 
peons  or  rancheros,  offering  for  sale 
the  sugars  and  fruits  of  the  country. 
They  had  actually  ascertained  the 
numbers  of  regiments  of  each  arm, 
whether  of  cavalry  or  infantry, 
whether  of  regulars  or  volunteers,  and 
the  exact  numbers  of  men  in  each, 
to  within  some  two  or  three  per  cent, 
as  well  as  the  actual  number  of  the 
pieces  of  our  artillery.  Gen.  Taylor, 
with  his  avowed  belief  in  the  impos 
sibility -of  keeping  such  matters  con 
cealed  in  an  enemy's  country,  could 
never  be  prevailed  upon  to  take  the 
usual  precautions  of  chains  of  senti 
nels  or  pickets  around  our  camps,  or 
even  at  our  market-places,  where  the 
peasants  of  the  country  were  encour 
aged  to  furnish  supplies.  In  the 
uncertainty  of  our  situation,  however, 
still  further  reconnoissances  were  made, 
and  scouts  sent  out,  especially  a  small 
"  spy  company,"  organized  for  the 
purpose  under  Ben.  McCullough, 
since  killed  in  Missouri  as  a  rebel 
general.  Much  confidence  was  felt 
in  him  and  his  men,  as  old  Texas 
rangers;  and  our  final  certain  infor 
mation  of  the  actual  near  presence  of 
the  enemy  came  by  some  of  his  men 
on  the  night  of  the  20th  of  Februarj". 
Upon  this  Gen.  Taylor  broke  up  his 
camp  on  the  next  morning,  having 
evidently  changed  what  I  believe  to 
have  been  his  previous  intention  of 
awaiting  the  assault  of  the  enemy  at 
that  point.  But  though  tents  were 
struck,  and  wagons  were  loaded  and 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


9 


in  line,  and  officers  in  some  cases 
mounted,  Gen.  Taylor,  with  the  de 
termination  not  to  be  driven  from  his 
camp  by  one  of  the  thousand  false 
rumors,  would  not  start,  as  he  stated, 
"  until  McCullough  himself  returned." 

He  came  back  about  two,  P.M.,  and 
reported  that  he  had  been  within 
Santa  Ana's  guard-fires,  near  Encar- 
nacion,  and  that  the  broad  plain 
around  that  hacienda  was  covered 
for  miles  with  the  troops,  artillery,  and 
mule-trains  of  this  immense  army. 

We  at  once  moved  rapidly  to  our 
rear,  towards  Saltillo,  for  some  fifteen 
miles,  to  the  gorge  of  Buena  Vista, 
which  no  one  could  pass,  with  any 
military  eye,  without  selecting  it  as 
an  admirable  defensive  point.  The 
troops  of  Gen.  Wool  were  here  halted 
for  encampment ;  while  Gen.  Taylor's  v 
smaller  special  force  proceeded  on1 
to  near  Saltillo,  where  it  went  into 
bivouac  that  night.  On  the  morning 
of  the  22d  of  February,  Gen.  Taylor 
arranged  for  a  garrison  of  some  six 
hundred  men  to  guard  the  city,  and 
restrain  the  people,  and  also  manned 
a  small  redoubt  near  his  camp  on  the 
high  plateau  immediately  south  of 
the  town,  and  commanding  it,  which 
he  placed  under  the  command  of  Major 
Webster.  He  desired  the  engineers 
to  go  both  together  (remarking,"  two 
heads  were  better  than  one " )  to 
Wool'a  camp,  and  call  for  Rucker's 
squadron  of  dragoons  (as  May  had 
reported  his  horses  as  too  tired),  and 
that  they  should  then  proceed  to  re 
connoitre  the  passes  south  of  our  late 
camp,  towards  Encarnacion.  That 
journey  we  were  saved,  as  will  be  seen ; 
for  starting  from  camp  from  half-past 
seven  to  eight,  A.M.,  Major  Mansfield 
and  myself  rode  leisurely  along,  recon 
noitring,  taking  the  bearings,  &c.,  and 
sketching  the  obstacles,  cross-gullies, 
and  hills  on  our  route,  till,  on  n earing 


the  hacienda  of  Buena  Vista,  about 
nine,  A.M.,  we  met  a  dragoon  on  a  gal 
lop  with  despatches  in  his  hand,  who 
called  out  to  us,  "  The  enemy  are  in 
sight."  We  sprung  our  horses  for 
ward  by  the  side  of  Wool's  camp  on  our 
left,  then  aroused  and  in  great  alarm ; 
we  saw  Capt.  Washington's  battery 
moving  to  the  front,  — to  the  narrow 
road  pass  of  some  forty  feet  only  be 
tween  the  steep  spurs  of  the  hills  on 
our  left,  and  the  precipitous  gullies  on 
the  right,  and  over  half  a  mile  beyond 
the  houses  of  Buena  Vista ;  and  we 
were  brought  up  at  about  eight  hun 
dred  yards  farther  by  finding  some 
eighteen  hundred  of  the  Mexican 
cavalry  already  up,  and  forming  a  line 
to  their  right,  within  a  half  mile  of 
us. 

I  would  say  now,  that  we  were  per 
fectly  astonished  that  such  a  body  of 
troops  could  have  approached  so  near 
without  our  men  being  in  a  position 
to  meet  them ;  and  we  were  surprised 
that  the  news  should  have  been  de 
spatched  to  Gen.  Taylor,  as  we  per 
sonally  witnessed,  only  some  fifteen 
minutes  previously. 

From  what  we  afterwards  learned, 
it  appears  that  Santa  Ana  had  taken 
up  his  line  of  march  almost  immedi 
ately  after  McCullough  left  his  camp, 
and  without  McCullough's  suspecting 
it.  And  he  was  pushing  on  to  attack 
us  in  our  camp  that  very  night ;  for 
his  advance  had  made  the  journey  of 
twenty-five  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the 
pass  into  the  Agua  Nueva  valley, 
and  five  miles  farther  it  came  upon 
the  site  of  our  camp  where  our  trains 
were  still  loading  up  with  grain,  at 
eleven  o'clock,  P.M.  The  wheat-stacks 
were  burned,  and  by  their  glaring 
light  the  mule-teams  started,  and 
came  in  on  a  hard  run,  fifteen  miles 
to  Buena  Vista,  arriving  between 
three  to  five  in  the  morning.  As  this 


10 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena  Vista. 


certainly  must  have  been  communi 
cated  to  Gen.  Wool,  why  a  scout  or  re 
connoitring  party  was  not  sent  to  the 
front  at  once,  to  learn  the  situation, 
and  why  even  this  information  was 
not  sent  to  G-en.  Taylor  immediately, 
cannot  be  conceived.  It  was  such  a 
blunder,  that  we  were  all  saved  from 
actual  destruction  only  by  an  equal 
blunder  of  the  Mexican  commander 
or  by  the  "providence  of  God." 
For  if  that  very  cavalry  we  saw,  in 
stead  of  halting,  and  slowly  forming 
a  cross-line  towards  the  mountain  on 
their  right,  at  a  distance,  as  we  saw 
it,  within  one  mile  of  where  Gen. 
Wool's  army  lay,  had  but  pressed 
rapidly  forward  at  the  first,  into  our 
then  disordered  camp  of  volunteers 
of  less  than  double  their  own  number, 
but  few  would  have  been  left  to  tell 
the  tale ;  and  our  force,  of  one  half 
those  numbers,  at  Saltillo  would  of 
course  have  shared  the  same  fate. 

The  ground  on  which  we  found 
ourselves  —  this  field  of  Buena  Vista, 
—  was,  as  it  then  appeared  to  me, 
one  of  the  most  broken  and  difficult 
positions  on  which  any  battle  had 
ever  been  fought.  It  was  situated  in 
the  valley,  about  one-third  the  dis 
tance  from  Saltillo,  twelve  miles,  to 
the  ranch  of  La  Encantada  ("  the  en 
chanted,"  from  its  mountain  echoes), 
a  valley  of  perhaps  two  miles  in  width 
at  each  extremity,  narrowed  at  Buena 
Vista  to  near  half  that  distance.  The 
east  side  on  our  left,  at  about  one 
thousand  yards,  was  bounded  by  the 
Sierra  or  mountain  range,  thirty-five 
hundred  feet  or  more  in  height;  and 
the  right,  at  six  hundred  yards,  by 
"  lomitas,"  or  hills,  of  some  two  hun 
dred  to  four  hundred  feet,  just  bej^ond 
which  were  the  higher  mountains. 
On  our  left,  as  the  road  ran  nearly 
through  the  middle  of  the  valley, 
there  was  a  sort  of  elevated  plain,  with 


cross  valleys  formed  by  the  rains  arid 
floods  of  ages,  of  fifty  to  one  hundred 
feet  depression;  while  on  our  right 
was  a  lower  steppe,  or  valley  of  bottom 
land,  with  recent  deep  gullies,  or 
"  canons,"  with  precipitous  sides,  from 
ten  to  twenty  or  thirty  feet  deep. 

This  Buena  Vista,  or  rather  the 
battle-field,  was  about  half  a  mile 
south  of  the  ranch,  at  the  pass  of 
"  Angostura,"  as  that  field  was  called 
by  the  Mexicans ;  though  the  original 
name  was  "la  Chupadera,"  or  the 
"sucking-place,"  as  cattle  were  able 
at  times  to  obtain  there  a  little  water 
that  oozed  from  the  spurs  of  the  hills 
near  the  road. 

A  model  plan  of  the  actual  field  of 
conflict  can  be  best  conceived  by  pla 
cing  both  hands  flat  upon  a  table, 
while  facing-  to  the  westward,  with 
the  fore-arms  raised  to  some  forty-five 
degrees.  The  fore-arms  would  indi 
cate  the  mountain-range;  the  right 
hand,  with  the  fingers  slightly  sepa 
rated,  and  having  the  thumb  near  the 
fore-finger,  will  very  nearly  represent 
our  own  original  ground.  And  the 
left,  with  the  thumb  touching  the  right 
wrist,  and  the  fingers  inclined  towards 
the  right  fore-finger,  will  show  the 
ground  or  ridges  occupied  by  the 
Mexicans ;  our  own  main  field  of 
fight  having  some  three  hundred 
yards  breadth  at  the  wrist,  or  base  of 
the  mountains,  and  five  hundred  at  the 
heads  of  the  valleys,  being  thus  near 
ly  a  third  of  a  mile  square.  These 
valley  heads  were  about  five  hundred 
yards  from  the  mountains,  and  near 
ly  the  same  distance  from  the  road  at 
the  middle  of  the  valley;  the  spurs 
near  the  road  being  some  eighty  to 
ninety  feet  above  it,  and  rising  gen 
tly  eastward  towards  the  plain,  which 
sloped  up  to  the  mountain  to  perhaps 
double  that  height.  These  slopes1 
were  passable  in  all  directions, — 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena  Vista. 


11 


though  with  difficulty  in  the  steepest 
parts, —  by  both  men,  and  the  small 
Mexican  horses,  as  were  these  moun 
tain  spurs  also,  for  the  most  part. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  main 
action  on  the  23d,  we  occupied  the 
whole  of  the  position  I  have  referred 
to,  as  represented  by  the  right  hand  ; 
O'Brien's  pieces  being  in  position  to 
enfilade  the  advanced  spur,  or  thumb, 
witli  the  Second  Indiana  Regiment, 
under  Col.  Bowles,  to  protect  them. 
Our  outlook  station,  with  a  small 
picket,  was  at  the  extremity  of  the 
next  ridge,  or  fore-finger ;  and  at  the 
foot  of  the  second  spur  back  from 
that  were  five  guns  of  Capt.  Wash 
ington's  battery,  guarding  the  narrow 
pass  .of  the  road,  which  was  protected 
by  a  small  breastwork,  hastily 
thrown  up  on  the  spur  itself,  and 
manned  by  Illinois  troops  under  Lieut.  - 
Col.  Wetherford.  Our  usual  route  to 
the  main  battle-field,  and  the  only 
route  for  artillery,  was  by  the  small 
rear  spur,  represented  by  the  little 
finger.  At  sunset  on  the  23d,  these 
two  last-named  spurs  were  all  that 
was  left  to  us ;  and  the  Mexicans  had 
a  large  battery,  protected  by  a  heavy 
regiment  drawn  up  in  position  at  the 
wrist,  or  mountain  foot,  to  enfilade  the 
whole  of  the  main  field  of  the  contest, 
if  they  had  charged  down,  as  we  at 
the  time  expected. 

It  is  proper  to  mention  here  one  or 
two  peculiarities  of  this  high  region, 
which  greatly  affected,  if  they  were 
not  the  main  cause  of,  our  greatest  dis 
aster  that  day,  —  the  massacre  of  near 
ly  two  hundred  men  at  the  close  of  the 
contest.  The  rarified  atmosphere 
here,  at  six  thousand  feet  elevation, 
was  such,  that  to  us,  whose  constitu 
tions  were  not  accustomed  to-  it,  but 
slight  exertions  and  short  marches 
caused  great  fatigue  and  weariness; 
and  the  clearness  of  the  air  almost 


wholly  changed  or  destroyed  all  pre 
conceived  notions  of  distances  from 
the  gradations  of  light  and  shade. 
In  standing  on  any  one  of  these 
ridges,  of  which  several  might  lie  be 
fore  us  in  succession  at  every  two  hun 
dred  or  three  hundred  yards,  the  eye 
would  detect  nothing  from  which  lo 
suspect  that  the  surface  was  other 
than  a  continuous  plane,  the  air  was 
so  clear. 

But  to  return  from  this  description 
to  the  position  for  reconnoissance 
that  we  had  chosen,  the  lookout  point 
above  mentioned.  Major  Mansfield 
gave  me  his  directions  to  remain  there, 
and  report  to  the  general  in  the  rear 
the  numbers  and  kinds  of  troops  of 
the  enemy,  as  they  came  up  and 
formed  in  front ;  adding  personal  re 
quests,  in  case  he  fell,  even  showing  me 
the  peculiarities  of  his  teeth  to  recognize 
him  even  in  decay,  as  he  stated,  for 
he  seemed  to  have  anticipated  the 
death  upon  the  battle-field  which  fell 
to  his  lot  some  fifteen  years  later. 
He  then  mounted  and  rode  to  the 
rear  to  assist  in  organizing  and  ar 
ranging  the  troops  to  meet  the  attack, 
which  was  hourly  expected  during  the 
whole  of  that  day.  I  remained  at 
that  position  till  night-fall,  with  a 
small  infantry  picket,  and  counted  the 
regiments  as  they  came  up  as  far  as 
possible,  and  the  pieces  of  artillery, 
&c.,  and  sent  the  news  in  by  dragoons 
from  a  mounted  squad  under  cover  of 
the  spur  in  my  rear.  Some  forty 
pieces  of  artillery  were  reported,  with 
some  eighteen  to  twenty  bodies  of  in 
fantry,  mostly  regiments,  and  sixteen 
regiments  of  brilliantly  uniformed 
cavalry,  drawn  up  in  two  lines  on 
dress-parade  that  afternoon.  I  recol 
lect  distinctly  now  the  music  of  their 
bugles  ringing  sweetly  through  all 
our  camp  from  this  parade.  These 
regiments,  of  some  four  hundred  men 


12 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena  Vista. 


only,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  gave 
them  a  body  of  cavalry  of  some  six 
thousand  to  seven  thousand ;  and  they, 
were  their  best  and  best-officered 
veterans ;  and  their  infantry  and  ar 
tillery  troops,  though  we  judged  them 
to  be  more  at  that  time,  made 
up  a  total  force  of  some  twenty-five 
thousand  altogether.  To  withstand 
them,  we  had  of  our  army  all  told  on 
the  field,  both  of  Gen.  Taylor's  and 
Wool's  command,  three  batteries,  of 
sixteen  six-pounder  pieces  in  all,  and 
two  hundred  and  sixty  men  of  regular 
artillery,  two  squadrons  of  regular 
dragoons  of  some  two  hundred  men, 
and  fifteen  companies  (some  eight 
hundred  men)  of  poorty  disciplined 
volunteer  cavalry  from  Kentucky  and 
Arkansas,  to  a  great  extent  mounted 
on  mules,  as  they  had  sold  their 
horses  to  the  artillery  in  the  expecta 
tion  of  an  early  muster-out,  and  re 
turn  home.  We  had  also  some  six 
regiments  of  volunteer  infantry  of 
some  thirty-four  hundred  men,  good, 
bad,  or  indifferent,  as  to  discipline. 
In  all,  with  the  sixteen  guns,  we  had 
some  forty-six  hundred  men ;  of  whom 
about  two-thirds  only  stood  their 
ground  to  resist  the  assaults  of  these 
heavy  Mexican  forces,  organized 
from  the  most  experienced  veteran 
regiments  of  Mexico,  and  with  heavy 
siege-artillery  even,  of  far  superior 
power  to  our  own  light  guns. 

An  incident  of  the  afternoon's  re- 
connoissance  shows  the  difficulty  of 
controlling  new  troops  till  fairly  un 
der  fire  ;  as  it  also  illustrates  the  lit 
tle  danger  from  the  fire  of  artillery, 
if  you  watch  the  pieces  and  have 
cover;  an  incident  precisely  such  as 
occurred  to  Major  Mansfield  at  the 
battle  of  Monterey,  which  he  had 
told  but  a  day  or  two  before.  While 
there  with  his  glass,  reconnoitring 
the  "Black  Fort"  near  that  city, 


with  a  picket  of  Texans  to  guard  him, 
he  looked,  as  he  said,  "directly  into 
the  muzzles  of  three  guns  "  pointed 
at  him,  and  ordered  his  party  to  keep 
down,  or  leave  him,  that  they  might 
not  draw  this  fire.  As  they  did  not 
heed  him  in  their  anxiety  to  see  what 
wTas  going  on,  he  found  a  little  hollow 
he  could  drop  into,  and  continued  his 
observations,  until  his  party  at  length 
brought  upon  them  the  fire  of  each 
of  these  three  guns  in  succession ;  the 
major  dropping  under  cover  each  time 
and  immediately  rising.  After  this, 
he  was  left  unmolested,  while  he 
found  his  guard  more  obedient.  Pre 
cisely  the  same  thing  occurred  at 
this  lookout  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
22d.  For  an  hour  or  more  the  muz 
zles  of  three  guns  bore  upon  us  from 
an  opposite  ridge  some  four  hundred 
yards  distant ;  and  the  men  were  cau 
tioned  to  keep  down,  and  to  watch 
and  take  cover,  to  which  they  paid  no 
attention,  in  their  eagerness  to  see 
the  forming  of  the  infantry  for  an  at 
tack  over  the  mountain  spurs  on  our 
left.  When  they  were  cautioned 
"  down,"  at  the  smoke  of  the  first 
gun,  most  carefully  aimed,  they  es 
caped  with  a  few  slight  injuries  from 
the  stones  thrown  up;  and,  as  the  sec 
ond  and  third  guns  had  no  more 
effect,  we  were  left  in  quiet,  and  this 
guard  became  as  obedient  as  children. 
As  to  our  troops  in  rear,  Gen.  Tay 
lor,  having  made  his  arrangements 
for  the  security  of  Saltillo,  and  learned 
by  the  courier  we  had  seen  of  the 
near  approach  of  the  enemy,  had  ar 
rived  on  the  field  not  far  from  noon, 
of  that  day,  and  had  the  distribution 
of  the  forces  completed,  which  had 
been  in  part  provided  for  previously 
by  his  second  in  command,  Gen.  Wool. 
O'Brien's  section  of  artillery  covered 
our  front  and  right ;  and  the  Illinois 
troops,  under  Bissel  and  Harden,  pro- 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


tected  our  left,  at  the  foot  of  the  near 
est  spur. of  the  mountain-range. 

While  these  arrangements  were 
being  made,  about  two,  P.M.,  on  the 
afternoon  of  this  day,  when  the  troops 
of  the  enemy  had  arrived,  and  formed 
in  large  force  in  our  front,  a  flag  was 
sent  in  by  the  President-General 
Santa  Ana,  to  Gen.  Taylor,  demand 
ing  the  surrender  of  himself  and  all 
his  troops ;  to  which  the  simple  reply 
sent  back  was,  "I  have  the  honor  re 
spectfully  to  decline  your  proposition. 
Z.  TAYLOR." 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  the 
afternoon,  a  force  of  a  full  division 
of  Mexicans  was  started  up  the  steep 
mountain  spur  on  the  east,  a  thousand 
feet  and  more  above  us,  with  the  hope 
of  pouring  down  upon  and  over- 
wjielming  our  left ;  and,  as  those  col 
umns  formed,  we  heard  the  loud 
pheers  of  our  men,  as  that  day  and 
its  memories,  the  22d  February, 
was  called  out  to  them.  This  contest 
of  musketry,  almost  among  the  clouds, 
continued  for  some  two  hours,  with  no 
result  whatever,  other  than  the  loss 
of  some  four  hundred  to  five  hundred 
men  killed  and  wounded,  as  acknowl 
edged  by  the  Mexicans,  and  but  five 
slightly  wounded  on  our  part.  Gen. 
Taylor  remarking,  as  I  was  told,  that 
"  He  hoped  they  would  have  a  few 


more  such  trials  in  learning  to  fire 
down  hill ; "  accurate  firing  being 
almost  impossible  down  a  mountain 
side,  as  is  well  known  to  hunters  and 
marksmen. 

With  the  closing  in  of  night,  the 
enemy  on  the  heights  were  withdrawn, 
that  mountain  skirmish  being  the 
only  attempt  at  fighting  for  the  day. 
At  the  earliest  dark,  our  pickets  were 
thrown  out  well  in  advance  even  of 
the  lookout  position  of  the  day ;  for 
a  small  knoll  was  seized  within  some 
two  hundred  yards  of  the  advance 
battery  of  the  Mexicans,  which  in 
sured  an  ample  warning  in  case  of 
any  night  attack.  Within  a  few  min 
utes  after,  the  Mexicans  attempted  to 
secure  the  same  knoll ;  but  their  lead 
ing  man  was  captured,  whose  sword, 
the  first  trophy  on  that  field,  I  was 
able  to  secure,  with  the  prisoner. 

The  night  of  the  22d  was  passed 
quietly,  in  the  thoughts  and  prepara 
tions  for  the  morrow,  with  both  ar 
mies.  A  proposition  was  made  by  an 
engineer  officer  who  knew  the  ground, 
through  Gen.  Wool  to  Gen.  Taylor, 
for  a  night  attack,  with  the  offer  to 
guide  it  from  our  front,  along  the 
road,  "  after  midnight  and  the  setting 
of  the  moon ; "  but  he  declined,  from 
the  fear  of  the  confusion  incident  to 
such  assaults  in  the  darkness. 


14 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


CHAPTER   II. 


EARLY  in  the  morning  of  the  23d, 
a  small  parapet  was  thrown  up  in 
front  of  Washington's  battery,  the 
roadway  being  closed  by  wagons  filled 
with  stones  ;  and  at  the  earliest  light 
I  resumed  my  position  in  the  advance 
with  the  mounted  orderlies  to  watch 
and  report  the  movement  at  their 
left,  near  which  appeared  to  be  their 
head-quarter  position.  By  7,  A.M., 
or  a  little  later,  a  large  and  brilliant 
group  of  officers,  who,  as  we  afterwards 
learned,  were  Santa  Ana  and  his  staff, 
came  out  on  their  advanced  spur  near 
the  road,  some  four  hundred  yards 
from  me.  I  noticed  their  horses, 
with  their  showy  trappings,  and  sev 
eral  large  and  beautiful  greyhounds 
gambolling  round  them.  After  a 
brief  observation  of  our  lines,  they  re 
tired,  and  their  infantry  columns 
were  rapidly  formed  for  attack ;  and, 
after  another  ineffectual  salute  to  our 
position,  of  three  guns  in  succession, 
the  column  moved  forward  upon  our 
centre.  Having  sent  in  full  notice 
of  these  movements  to  our  right,  and 
being  then  unable  to  return  by  the 
road,  I  passed  up  that  advanced  spur 
to  our  left  (against  which  a  second 
column  was  forming),  to  join  and  re 
port  to  Gen.  Taylor.  This  column 
at  the  road  moved  forward  against 
Washington's  battery ;  but  the  fire 
iVom  his  pieces  repulsed  them  at  a 
distance  of  some  five  hundred  yards, 
between  the  first  and  second  ridges 
in  advance,  or  just  in  rear  of  our 
lookout  spur.  The  horse  of  Santa 
Ana  was  killed  under  him  in  this 
charge,  the  only  one  attempted  here 
during  the  day.  Near  noon,  a  most 


daring,  hairbrained  reconnoissance 
was  made  by  a  single  Mexican  offi 
cer  up  to  within  sixty  yards  of  the 
battery ;  when  our  advance  sentinel 
was  about  to  lay  a  hand  on  his  bridle, 
he  turned  his  horse,  and  fled  under  our 
infantry  fire  fronl  the  hill.  He  was 
successful  in  riding  back  to  his  lines, 
but  was  killed  later,  in  the  last  charge 
of  the  afternoon.  Major  Washington 
forbade  the  fire  of  his  guns  on  "  so 
brave  a  fellow." 

On  getting  up  to  the  plain,  at  our 
left  and  front,  I  found  that  Gen.  Tay 
lor  had  not  yet  arrived ;  while  all  was 
anxiety  at  the  sight  of  the  immense 
masses  of  Mexican  infantry,  their 
bright  arms  glittering  in  the  early 
morning  sun,  that  were  seen  approach 
ing,  under  the  fire  of  their  heavy 
guns,  from  the  ridge  just  across  the 
narrow  valley.  I  turned  to  our  rear 
to  seek  the  staff,  and  met  my  friend 
Capt.  Lincoln,  Wool's  adjutant-gen 
eral,  on  a  gallop  to  the  front.  My 
greeting  of  'Buena  Vista!'  with 
the  right  arm  pointing  to  the  rear, 
was  responded  to  with  his  right  arm 
forward,  and  "  Buena  Vista !  "  which 
was  probably  the  last  exclamation  of 
his  life  except  his  closing  cheer. 

As  I  passed  onward,  I  first  met 
Col.  Belknap,  moving  quietly  along 
under  a  perfect  hail  of  musketry,  and 
next  found  Gen.  Taylor  and  his  staff, 
as  they  came  upon  the  plain  from 
Saltillo,  where  the  anxiety  of  the 
General  had  carried  him  during  the 
night  to  assure  himself  again  of  the 
proper  disposition  of  the  troops  there. 

We  had  scarcely  moved  a  hundred 
yards  upon  the  plain,  when  Capt. 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


15 


Bragg  rode  up  with  the  exclamation, 
"  General,  they  are  too  strong  for  me, 
— they  are  six  pieces  to  my  two  ! "  Up 
on  this  Gen.  Taylor  authorized  him 
to  withdraw  to  a  safer  place.  As  he 
turned  to  join  his  battery  he  saw  me, 
and,  grasping  my  hand,  cried  out,  "  I 
give  you  joy.  I  shed  a  tear  for  you 
just  now.  I  thought  I  saw  you 
dead."  I  followed  him,  and  saw  at 
the  feet  of  the  horses  of  one  of  his 
pieces  all  that  was  left  of  the  gal 
lant  Lincoln,  so  recently  in  full  and 
joyous  life.  My  first  impulse  was  to 
save  his  sword,  as  of  priceless  value 
to  those  who  loved  him ;  and  I 
carried  it  with  his  pistol  to  our  field- 
hospital  under  the  edge  of  the  plain, 
for  safety.  Upon  returning  some 
short  time  after,  and  finding  his  body 
still  left  where  he  fell,  I  had  that  also 
taken  off  the  field.  He  had  pressed 
forward  as  I  passed  him,  to  the  front 
of  Bissell's  regiment,  then  forming 
to  support  a  section  of  artillery  under 
'Thomas,  and  to  meet  the  charge  of 
the  advancing  columns.  Kiding 
along  their  front,  he  turned  back  to 
their  left  and  rear  to  cheer  them  on, 
with  the  words,  "  Come  on,  my  brave 
Illinoisians,  and  save  tJiis  battery." 
In  the  storm  of  musketry  that  then 
rained  down  upon  them,  one  ball 
struck  him  in  the  waist,  another  en 
tered  the  back  of  his  head ;  and  droop 
ing  slowly  forward,  he  was  caught  by 
a  captain  of  the  charging  regiment, 
who  passed  him  into  the  arms  of  his 
orderly;  and  he  was  laid  upon  the 
ground,  without  a  groan  or  a  word. 
After  waiting  several  weeks,  I  sent  a 
long  letter  to  his  friends,  giving  them 
every  detail,  and  with  it  flowers 
which  had  blossomed  on  the  spot 
where  he  fell.  Long  may  such  flow 
ers  bloom  overthi*  gallant  son  of  a 
noble  race  of  Massachusetts,  the 
names  of  whose  heroes  and  statesmen 


still  glitter  among  the  brightest  on 
her  rolls  of  fame  ! 

The  arrangement  of  our  troops  for 
the.  battle  which  had  then  commenced 
was,  very  briefly,  as  follows :  the 
plain  referred  to  was  held  by  us  in 
force,  to  receive  the  main  assaults  of 
the  enemy ;  for  our  right  was  felt  to 
be  secured  by' Washington's  battery 
and  the  steep  interlaced  gullies  be 
yond  it ;  and  our  left  was  protected 
by  the  high  Sierra  range,  if  we  could 
hold  the  plain  at  the  mountain  foot ; 
for  which  three  pieces  under  O'Brien 
(a  part  of  Washington's  battery) 
held  our  right  centre,  with  Bowles's 
Second  Indiana  Infantry  as  guard. 
A  part  of  Bragg's  battery  was  in 
rear  of  our  right  centre  ;  a  part  of 
Sherman's  battery  under  Thomas, 
with  Bissell's  Illinois  regiment,  and 
McKee's  Kentucky  regiment,  was  at 
the  heads  of  the  gullies,  with  Lane's 
Indiana  and  Harden's  First  Illinois. 
The  bulk  of  the  remaining  infantry 
regiments  were  at  first  under  cover 
in  rear  of  and  at  the  edge  of  the 
plateau;  and  in  the  wide  ravines  in 
the  rear  were  Humphrey  Marshall's 
five  companies  of  Kentucky  volun 
teer  cavalry,  Jeff  Davis's  Mississippi 
regiment,  Gen.  Taylor's  escort,  and 
eight  of  Yell's  regiment  of  Arkan 
sas  cavalry,  being  held  as  a  kind  of 
reserve,  with  the  two  squadrons  of 
regular  cavalry. 

The  storm  of  fire  under  which 
Lincoln  had  fallen  came  upon  us 
from  the  main  and  partly  successful 
column  of  attack  against  our  centre 
on  the  plain,  pushed  forward  by  the 
Mexicans  immediately  after  their 
failure  on  our  right,  at  the  road ;  its 
approach  being  by  the  way  of  our 
short  advanced  spur  (the  thumb  of 
the  model  of  position  suggested). 
It  was  at  first  repelled  by  O'Brien's 
pieces,  which  enfiladed  the  upper  part 


16 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena  Vista. 


of  this  ridge.  Having  cleared  the 
space  on  his  front,  O'Brien  ordered 
the  advance  of  his  guns,  when  the 
heading  of  the  horses  to  the  rear, 
"  to  limber  up,"  appears  to  have 
caused  an  alarm  to  Col.  Bowles,  and 
given  him  the  idea  that  they  were 
preparing  to  retreat ;  and  in  his  igno 
rance  and  ill-judgment,  rather  than 
cowardice,  he  ordered  his  regiment  to 
the  rear,  when  in  fact  they  had  lost 
but  five  men.  The  regiment  moved 
at  first  only  after  repeated  orders, 
and  by  companies  even,  till  once 
fairly  in  retreat,  when  it  became  a 
ilight  to  them,  although  fortunately 
to  them  only ;  for  though  rallied  in 
part  By  several  officers  of  the  staff, 
Maj.  Dix,  Capt.  Linnard,  and  myself, 
they  never  again  acted  that  day  as 
an  organization.  The  bitter  shame 
and  burning  disgrace  of  this  unneces 
sary  rout,  caused  by  the  blunder  of 
this  ignorant  colonel,  was  deeply  felt 
for  months  and  years.  Among  their 
blackest,  saddest  days  maybe  counted 
that  of  their  departure  for  home  when 
relieved  by  the  hew  troops,  —  a  day  to 
all  the  other  regiments  there  so  gay 
and  joyous.  For,  as  all  the  other 
regiments  filed  by  in  succession,  the 
battalions  of  the  new  columns,  con 
sisting  of  some  six  thousand  men, 
turned  out  on  parade,  with  presented 
arms,  'and  saluted  as  it  passed  with 
martial  music  and  loud  cheers.  But  the 
Second  Indiana  Regiment  marched 
by  in  the  sadness  and  silence  of  their 
own  grieved  hearts,  while  the  men 
of  all  these  battalions  remained  in 
their  tents.  This  is  perhaps  among 
the  most  sorrowful  memories  of  the 


war. 


When  I  reported  the  difficulty  of 
rallying  these  men  to  Gen.  Taylor, 
he  said,  "Call  upon  their  State  pride, 
call  upon  their  State  pride :  they  will 
not  resist  that." 


This  was  tried  a  short  time  after 
wards,  with  some  fifty  or  sixty  strag 
glers  at  our  field  hospital,  —  with  the 
call,  "  Up  !  up  !  we  want  you ;  your 
State  wants  you."  Seeing  that  no 
one  moved,  the  inquiry  was  made, 
"What  State  are  you  from?"  A 
lazy-looking  rascal,  after  coolly  look 
ing  all  round  upon  the  others,  an 
swered  "  Well,  sir,  we  are  from  various 
States,  if  you  must  know."  The  Gen 
eral  acknowledged  himself  beaten. 

The  flight  of  this  regiment  at  once 
opened  our  centre  to  the  enemy,  for 
this  retreat  was  the  signal  for  renewing 
their  assault ;  and  O'Brien  left  alone, 
at  the  very  moment  of  his  intended 
advance,  could  only  hope  to  save  his 
pieces,  in  which  for  that  time  he  suc 
ceeded.  The  enemy  in  heavy  force 
then  gained  the  plain,  and  the  whole 
front,  as  also  that  left  half  of  the  battle 
field,  near  the  mountain,  which  they 
held  through  the  whole  contest. 
They  soon  afterwards  brought  up  a 
heavy  battery,  whose  fire  covered  and 
commanded  nearly  the  whole  of  this 
plateau.  For  two  hours  after  this  the 
fire  on  either  side  raged  with  unabated 
violence.  During  this  time  a  large 
body  of  Mexican  cavalry,  some  three 
thousand  or  more,  succeeded  in  pass 
ing  over  this  plain  at  our  left,  along 
the  mountain  foot,  apparently  with  the 
design  of  attacking  our  camps  and  the 
trains  in  the  rear.  Davis's  regiment, 
with  Sherman  and  one  piece  of  artil 
lery,  and  May's  squadron,  were  sent 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  enemy, 
and  guard  our  trains ;  while  Marshall  - 
with  his  volunteer  cavalry  was  01- 
dered  to  move  in  this  ravine,  a  short 
distance  to  his  right,  to  guard  our 
centre.  But  this  man  continued  his 
movement  to  the  Hacienda  and  the 
plain  beyond,  a  mile  from  the  battle 
field,  where  he  remained  for  the  rest 
of  the  day,  simply  as  a  spectator  of 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena  Vista. 


17 


the  contest,  in  a  good  position  to  re 
tire  if  we  were  routed ;  and  neither 
the  repeated  messages  of  Gen.  Taylor, 
nor  his  own  personal  solicitation 
made  after  the  lull  of  battle,  soon  af 
ter  mid-day,  could  bring  him  to  the 
field  again. 

It  was  shortly  after  this  Mexican 
cavalry  had  passed  beyond  our  line, 
while  the  fire  of  the  artillery  on  both 
sides  was  of  the  hottest,  the  plain  be 
ing  completely  covered  with  smoke, 
that  occurred  one  of  those  incidents, — 
those  blunders, — that  at  times  even 
decide  the  fate  of  battles.  In  this  case 
we  felt  that  it  cost  us  at  least  the  loss 
of  these  three  thousand  cavalry  as 
prisoners.  For  as  the  fire  slackened 
a  little,  and  the  smoke  cleared  for  a 
few  moments,  a  cry  rose  of  a  "  mes 
sage  from  Gen.  Santa  Ana;  "  and 
two  Mexican  officers  were  led  for 
ward  to  Gen.  Taylor,  who,  with 
his  staff  grouped  around  him,  was 
just  in  rear  of  the  centre  of  the  pla 
teau.  I  noticed  that  they  had  no 
white  flag,  and  was  still  more  sur 
prised  at  the  message  they  gave  in 
French,  that  "  Gen.  Santa  Ana  de 
sired  to  know  what  Gen.  Taylor 
wanted."  Honest  Gen.  Taylor,  with 
out  an}''  punctilio  or  any  wile  in 
himself,  and  without  suspicion  of  this 
in  others,  at  once  replied  "  His  sur 
render,  "  which  was  called  out  to  them 
by  others  in  French.  While  Gen. 
Wool  returned  with  these  men  towards 
the  line  for  a  parley,  Gen.  Taylor 
at  once  stopped  the  firing  in  our  front, 
and  sent  similar  orders  to  our  left  and 
rear,  where  otir  reserves  were  engaged 
with  that  verj  cavalry;  and  thus,  on 
the  cessation  of  our  fire,  those  three 
thousand  men,  except  one  or  two 
small  detachments,  quietly  passed 
back  to  their  own  lines  unmolested  un 
der  our  very  eyes. 

Gen.  Wool  soon  returned,  and  re 


ported  to  Gen.  Taylor,  that,  as  he 
approached  the  enemy,  those  officers 
advanced  towards  their  own  troops 
and  joined  them  ;  but,  as  the  Mexicans 
still  continued  to  fire  upon  him  after 
this,  he  gave  up  the  attempt  at  a  par 
ley  and  returned.  Though  few  of  us, 
if  any,  suspected  the  good  faith  of  this 
strange  message  at  the  monisnt,  I 
have  little  doubtAthat  these  officers, 
being  well  in  advance,  found  them- 
selves,  by  the  lifting  of  the  smoke, 
surrounded  by  our  men,  and  with 
ready  wit  at  once  feigned  this  mes 
sage,  "  a  ver  sepoya,  "  as  their  phrase 
is, —  "  to  see  if  it  would  pay  ' ;  "  and  it 
did  pay  most  fortunately  for  them, 
for,  as  they  neared  their. own  lines, 
they  deserted  Gen.  Wool,  and  es 
caped  ;  and  not  only  this,  but  unwit 
tingly  on  their  part,  by  our  order  to 
stop  the  fire,  their  large  body  of  cav 
alry  was  also  saved. 

Of  the  two  detachments  referred  to, 
one  body  of  some  three  or  four  hun 
dred  men,  apparently  advancing  on 
our  train,  was  met  by  Jeff  Davis  with 
his  small  regiment,  with  Sherman  and 
a  piece  of  artillery.  After  a  near  ap 
proach,  but  not  an  actual  charge,  the 
rifles  of  Davis  and  the  canister  of 
Sherman  were  too  much  for  them, 
aud  they  turned  and  fled  to  their  col 
umn,  escaping  to  their  own  lines.  I 
counted  seven  dead  Mexicans  the  next 
day  at  the  scene  of  this  contest.  This 
gave  his  first  military  prestige  to  Davis, 
who  was  offered  a  general's  position  in 
our  army  soon  after.  He  was  wounded 
in  the  foot  at  this  affair ;  and  in  the 
battle  his  regiment  lost  one  hundred 
men  out  of  three  hundred  and  sev 
enty. 

The  other  detachment,  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  only,  bore  down  to 
wards  our  depot  at  the  Hacienda  of 
Buena  Vista.  Here  were  drawn  up 
in  line  Marshall  (senior  colonel)  with 


IS 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


his  five,  and  Yell  with  his  eight  com 
panies  of  volunteer  cavalry.  The  Mex 
icans  in  "column  of  fours,  "  advanced 
moderately,  halting  from  time  to 
time ;  and  Marshall,  though  repeated 
ly  urged  by  others,  could  not  be  pre 
vailed  upon  to  order  an  advance  or 
charge.  But  Yell,  a  brave  man,  but 
without  discipline,  felt  the  humilia 
tion  of  the  moment ;  and  with  passion 
ate  appeals  to  his  men,  and  with  most 
bitter,  biting  sarcasm  upon  those  who 
held  back,  he  succeeded  in  getting 
some  sixty  to  join  him  in  the  charge 
which  Marshall  would  not  order. 
With  these  only,  he  advanced  to  meet 
the  Mexican  lancers,  who  now  came 
upon  him,  and  overwhelmed  him  at 
the  charging  pace,  when  Yell  with 
several  of  his  officers  and  men  went 
down,  and  the  lines  of  Marshall  in  his 
rear  turned  at  once,  without  waiting 
the  shock,  and  rushed  pell-mell  be 
tween  and  around  the  buildings  of 
the  ranch,  followed  by  the  Mexicans. 
Yell's  adjutant  (afterwards  the  lieu 
tenant-colonel  of  his  regiment)  said 
afterwards  of  this  charge,  that  is 
boasted  of  for  our  cavalry,  "I  was 
at  full  speed,  with  Mexicans  on  the 
right,  left,  and  rear  of  me."  This  col 
umn  of  lancers  then  passed  rapidly 
across  the  valley  at  our  right  and  rear, 
rejoining  their  line,  by  passing  around 
the  gullies  on  our  right,  and  being  fired 
at  by  their  own  artillery  as  they  ap 
proached  them  in  our  front.  They 
suffered  somewhat  as  they  passed, 
from  the  stragglers,  and  the  small 
guard  of  infantry  on  the  roofs  of  the 
adobe  houses ;  and  they  barely  escaped 
destruction  from  a  charge  under  May, 
who  was  approaching  by  the  road  on 
their  flank  at  the  moment  of  their 
charge,  when  his  command  was  halted, 
as  one  of  his  officers,  Lieut.  Givens,  af 
terwards  told  me,  "  to  let  the  dust 
clear  away."  May  soon  after  re 


sumed  the  pursuit;    but   the  critical 
moment  had  passed,  not  to  return. 

While  this  last  skirmish  was  occur 
ring,  the  battle  recommenced  with  in 
creased  fury  on  the  plain.  It  had 
been  observed  by  the  two  Mexicans 
that  Gen.  Taylor  rode  a  white  horse, 
the  only  white  horse,  I  believe,  ridden 
by  any  officer  that  day  except  Lin 
coln.  During  the  lull  of  our  fire,  a 
heavy  battery  of  artillery  was  placed 
in  position  to  cover  every  part  of  the 
plain ;  and  the  white  horse,  with  the 
staff  grouped  around  it,  was  a  most 
conspicuous  mark.  I  recollect  at  one 
time,  as  we  crossed  the  rear  ridge,  in 
an  attempt  to  take  cover,  three  balls, 
in  true  line-shots,  came  over  us  in 
succession,  as  we  moved  from  one  side 
to  the  other.  The  firing  down  hill 
without  doubt  saved  Gen.  Taylor. 
We  learned  afterwards  that  this  was 
a  battery  commanded  by  Capt.  Eiley, 
formerly  a  sergeant  of  our  infantry, 
who  had  deserted  our  army  at  Mata- 
moras,  and  who  had  been  promised  a 
lieutenant-colonelcy  if  he  succeeded 
in  killing  or  disabling  Gen.  Taylor. 
Kiley  was  subsequently  captured  on 
Scott's  line ;  and  though  unusual  ef 
forts,  even  petitions  of  large  numbers 
of  the  ladies  of  Mexico,  were  made  to 
save  him,  he  was  tried  and  sentenced. 
Under  the  immediate  direction  of 
Twiggs  (who  subsequently  beca'nie 
a  far  greater  traitor  to  his  country) 
he  was  severely  branded  as  a  deserter, 
while  some  seventy  other  such  deser 
ters  were  hung,  at  the  first  wave  of 
our  flag  over  Chapultepec.  Eiley's 
life  was  saved,  on  the  plea  that  he  de 
serted  just  before  the  actual  date  of 
the  declaration  of  war. 

It  was  during  the  severe  enfilading 
fire,  that  the  gallant  Harden,  who 
had  a  regiment  in  admirable  disci 
pline,  came  up  to  Gen.  Taylor  to  beg 
that  he  might  be  allowed  to  charge, 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


19 


and  capture  that  battery ;  and,  grasp 
ing  his  hand  warmly  with  the  excla 
mation,  "  You  are  our  regulars  ! "  I 
joined  in  urging  his  request.  But 
the  General  felt  that  it  was  scarcely 
safe  to  assault  them;  and  he  remarked 
to  me,  as  Harden  turned  away,  "I 
know  Harden  would  go ;  but  I  do  not 
know  what  his  men  would  do  :  they 
have  never  been  under  fire.  If  I  only 
had  one  regiment  of  regulars,  I  would 
order  this  charge."  Nor  is  it  perhaps 
too  much  to  say,  that  if  he  had  had 
the  troops,  to  order  such  a  charge,  it 
would  probably  have  been,  like  all  our 
other  daring  charges  on  the  Mexi 
cans,  successful ;  and  the  total  rout 
of  all  that  army,  with  the  loss  of  all 
its  war-material  and  camp-equipage, 
must  have  been  the  result.  With 
such  a  result,  these  troops  and  this 
material,  instead  of  being  safely  and 
quietly  withdrawn  in  the  nigbt,  as 
was  the  case,  would  never  have  formed 
the  nucleus  of  the  force  that  met 
Gen.  Scott  at  Cerro  Gordo;  even 
more,  there  would  have  been  no  Cerro 
Gordo.  Had  there  been  one  regi 
ment  of  regulars  at  Buena  Vista, 
Gen.  Scott  could  have  marched  al 
most  unopposed  into  the  valley,  if  not 
even  into  the  city  of  Mexico;  and, 
though  the  military  fame  of  that 
chieftain  would  not  have  been  as 
great,  the  bloodshed  and  slaughter  on 
that  line  that  gave  him  his  success 

<t5'C  4  Mi^n^f^f 

would  have  beenAlw  less. 

Towards  noon,  and  during  the  rage 
of  the  battle  upon  the  plain,  when 
orders  were  sent  to  the  rear  for  as 
sistance  from  the  reserves,  I  met 
Lieut,  (now  Gen.)  Kilburn,  as  he  was 
attempting  to  ascend  the  plateau 
with  a  section  of  Bragg's  battery; 
which  had  been  sent  to  our  rear  at 
the  time  of  danger  there.  These 
guns  had  moved  rapidly  to  the  right 
and  left,  to  meet  the  expected  attacks 


over  a  wide  space  in  our  rear;  and 
this  celerity  of  our  artillery  in  moving 
to  different  points  had  so  astonished 
the  enemy  as  to  give  them  the  im 
pression  of  our  having  a  vastly  supe 
rior  force  in  this  respect.  But  Kil- 
burn's  horses  were  now  entirely  ex 
hausted,  and  unable  to  move  the 
pieces ;  upon  seeing  which,  I  told 
him  I  would  get  him  other  animals. 
Calling  his  sergeant,  I  rode  off  to 
Major  Washington,  and  appealed  to 
him  for  fresh  teams  for  these  guns, 
which  were  at  once  given  by  this  no 
ble  old  soldier;  so  that  this  section 
for  a  second  time  joined  in  this  morn 
ing's  fight  on  the  plateau.  The 
fresh  horses  played  a  still  more  im 
portant  part  in  the  afternoon  for 
their  battery  and  its  commander. 

Soon  after  this,  or  about  mid-day, 
and  after  some  three  hours  of  almost 
continuous  fire,  the  rage  of  war  on 
the  earth  was  silenced  for  the  time 
by  a  greater  conflict  of  the  elements 
from  the  heavens  above ;  for  a  most 
violent  storm  of  rain  and  even  hail 
poured  down  upon  us  in  torrents  for 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  com 
pletely  silencing  the  strife  of  the  con 
tending  armies.  Some  three  to  four 
hours  later  in  the  afternoon,  after  a 
second  long-continued  firing  of  the 
artillery  on  both  sides  during  the  last 
fatal  charge,  a  second  such  shower  of 
rain  poured  down  upon  us,  and  closed 
the  contest ;  while  a  slighter  shower 
had  fallen  on  the  night  of  the  twenty- 
second,  just  after  the  lesser  battle 
in  the  mountain.  Now,  as  not  a  drop 
of  rain  had  fallen  there  for  many 
months  previously,  and  none  fell 
again,  as  I  personally  know,  for  at 
least  two  to  three  months  after  this 
battle,  I  think  we  may  consider  these 
instances  to  be  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  firing  of  cannon  produces 
rain  even  in  dry  seasons. 


20 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


Just  previous  to  this  shower,  and 
while  the  fire  was  raging  at  the  hot 
test,  Gen.  Wool,  a  man  personally  as  • 
brave  as  Gen.  Taylor  himself  (though 
other  impressions  had  been  given  me 
before  the  battle),  in  an  excess  of  cau 
tion,  and  in  fear  of  a  defeat,  had  urged 
on  Gen.  Taylor  to  send,  or  let  him 
send,  an  order  to  Capt.  Washington 
to  have  his  battery  got  ready  for 
a  retreat ;  and  Gen.  Taylor  very 
doubtfully  yielding,  Wool  sent  his 
aid,  Lieut,  (now  Gen.)  McDowell, 
from  whom  I  had  the  facts,  down 
to  Washington  to  give  the  order. 
The  horses  were  at  once  attached  to 
the  pieces ;  and  one  gun,  by  the  mis 
take  of  a  sergeant,  had  actually 
started  towards  the  rear.  But  they 
were  ordered  back  by  brave  old 
Washington,  who  vowed  he  would 
not  move  till  he  had  the  positive  or 
ders  of  Gen.  Taylor.  A  very  few 
minutes  after,  Major  Bliss  (Taylor's 
adjutant-general)  came  down,  and 
ordered  them  "  to  limber  up,  to  be  pre 
pared  to  go  to  the  front ;  "  and  when 
Washington  said,  "I  thought  we 
were  defeated,  from  the  order  just 
now  received,"  Bliss  replied,  "  On  the 
contrary,  Gen.  Taylor  thinks  they  are 
pretty  badly  whipped  ;  and  he  wants 
you  to  be  ready  to  pursue  them." 

I  understood  that  this  order  was 
afterwards  forgotten  or  denied  by 
Gen.  Wool;  but  it  was  an  order, 
which,  if  known  to  the  volunteer 
troops,  would  at  once  have  caused 
their  retreat,  and  of  course  their  utter 
rout  under  the  circumstances.  I  can 
not  doubt  that  Gen.  Taylor  yielded 
for  the  moment  only  to  the  urgings 
of  this  old  veteran  officer,  his  second 
in  command,  from  the  kindness  of  his 
nature  ;  but  immediately  after,  to  pre 
vent  the  danger  which  he  foresaw 
with  his  raw  troops,  he  sent  down 
Bliss  with  a  counter-order  and  a 


message  even  of  false  hope,  as  I  must 
feel  sure  it  was.  I  mention  this  fact 
as  one  of  the  accidents  by  which  the 
results  of  the  battle  might  have  been 
changed. 

After  the  storm,  the  Mexicans 
having  for  some  time  appeared  to  rest 
quietly,  the  generals  and  their  staffs 
indulged  themselves  in  a  little  rest 
and  refreshment.  While  troops  were 
changed  in  position,  —  brought  up  to 
near  the  plateau,  and  at  the  heads  of 
the  ravines,  to  be  ready  for  any  new 
assault,  and  the  batteries,  in  part  at 
least,  descended  to  the  centre  position, 
near  the  pass,  to  forage  their  horses, 
—  Gen.  Taylor,  whom  no  personal  ur 
ging  had  before  prevailed  upon  to 
dismount  from  his  white  horse  for 
safety,  exchanged  that  animal  for  an 
other,  —  a  favorite  "  clay-bank  pacer." 
He  at  once  visited  the  ranch  and 
trains,  to  inspect  their  condition,  and 
see  to  their  safety.  He  also  went  to 
the  cavalry  under  Marshall,  then  near 
the  ranch,  and  commanded,  urged, 
and  implored  him  to  come  up  close  to 
the  plain,  to  be  ready  to  assist  us, 
begging  him  in  the  homely  farmer's 
phrase,  though  with  inverted  mean 
ing,  to  "  stand  up  to  his  fodder,  rack 
or  no  rack."  But  all  his  efforts  were 
in  vain;  for  I  recollect  hours  after, 
during  the  last  conflict,  the  General 
told  me  to  look  with  my  glass,  and  tell 
him  what  men  those  were  in  our  rear, 
beyond  the  ranch.  I  could  only  an 
swer,  "  I  see  they  are  our  cavalry,  as 
they  are  not  in  uniform ; "  when  his 
earnest,  feeling  exclamation  was,  "  I 
wish  in  God's  name  they  would  only 
come  up  and  show  themselves.  I  would 
not  ask  them  to  fight."  It  was  also 
about  this  time,  or  near  the  middle  of 
the  day,  that  Gen.  Minon,  with  a  large 
cavalry-force  which  had  been  sent 
round  by  a  mule-path  beyond  the 
high  mountains  on  our  left,  to  threat- 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


21 


en  our  train  and  depot  at  Saltillo, 
had  succeeded  in  crossing  those 
mountains  by  a  most  wild  and  dan 
gerous  path,  and  approached  our  rear, 
as  if  to  cut  off  our  communication 
with  the  town.  Upon  this,  an  officer 
of  Major  Webster,  who  commanded  the 
redoubt  overlooking  Saltillo,  Lieut, 
(now  Gen.)  Donaldson,  moved  out 
with  one  piece  of  artillery.  Lieut. 
Shover,  with  another  piece  from 
our  train-guard,  joined  him ;  and 
they  both  gallantly  approached  and 
shelled  this  large  body  of  cavalry 
without  a  single  bayonet  or  sabre 
other  than  those  of  their  artillerists 
to  protect  them.  To  their  own  as- 
'tonishment  —  in  fact,  to  escape  the 
fire  of  these  two  pieces  —  the  whole 
brigade  of  Mirion  turned  back,  and 
retraced  their  steps  over  the  mountain- 
path.  And  thus  closed  all  battle  in  our 
rear;  although  we  had  good  reason 
afterwards  to  feel  assured  that  several 
thousand  guerillas  were  still  beyond 
them,  to  cut  off  all  stragglers,  in  case 
of  our  defeat. 

To  return  to  our  main  position. 
About  this  time,  between  one  and  two, 
P.M.,  the  two  generals,  Taylor  and 
Wool,  with  most  of  the  staff-officers, 
had  collected  near  our  central  posi 
tion,  in  rear  of  Washington's  battery, 
reporting  and  gathering  information  ; 
while  some  jests  were  passed  round 
in  spite  of  the  anxieties  of  the  hour. 
Among  others,  a  bet  was  fastened  on 
me  by  Garnet,  Taylor's  aid,  for  look 
ing  with  eyes  too  large  upon  a  shell 
filled  with  musket-balls  that  an  hour 
or  two  before  had  passed  uncomfort 
ably  near  me,  while  I  was  sitting 
quietly  in  the  saddle,  carelessly  ex 
posed,  with  a  full  side-view  offered  to 
the  enemy.  The  bet  was  on  the  di 
ameter  of  this  seven-inch  shell ;  and  I 
lost  it  by  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  The 
wager -was  faithfully  paid  the  next 


day.  (I  will  not  say  how,  in  this  re 
gion  of  the  Maine  law.)  I  could  not 
but  think  sadly  of  the  occurrence  thir 
teen  years  after,  when  the  winner  of 
that  bet  lay  before  me  at  Corrick's 
Ford,  his  last  fight  over,  with  a  rebel 
star  upon  his  shoulder. 

As  we  soon  saw  much  movement  in 
the  troops  of  the  enemy  on  our  front, 
along  the  road,  Gen.  Taylor  directed 
me  to  ascend  a  knoll,  just  in  the  rear 
of  our  centre,  to  reconnoitre.  When, 
after  a  few  minutes,  I  reported  to  him 
that  the  enemy  appeared  to  be  retir 
ing  in  large  numbers,  he  at  once 
mounted,  with  his  staff,  and  moved 
round  to  ascend  the  plain.  I  contin 
ued  at  the  hill,  and  a  short  time  after 
observed  that  they  appeared  to  be 
wavering  or  halting  in  their  retreat, 
of  which  I  sent  notice  immediately  up 
to  the  general,  by  a  horseman  resting 
at  the  hill-foot ;  soon  after,  seeing 
them  return  on  the  road  towards  us 
in  considerable  force,  I  left  the  hill, 
and  remounted  to  join  and  report  this 
at  once  to  the  general.  t3(0rw*f.'-\ft 

Upon  reaching  the  plateau,  I  found 
the  contest  raging  with  all  the  force 
of  the  early  morning  strife.  From 
the  facts,  as  gathered  then  and  im 
mediately  after,  I  should  judge  that 
the  enemy,  though  holding  in  force 
the  left  and  front  of  our  original  posi 
tion  on  the  plateau,  and  commanding 
this  plain,  were  still  uncertain  or  un 
decided  about  another  attack  upon  us, 
while  we  held  this  plain  by  the  heads 
of  the  valleys  on  our  right,  and  the 
ravine  in  rear  of  our  centre ;  though 
they  held,  with  a  great  force  of  in 
fantry,  the  first  valley  on  our  front 
(between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of 
the  suggested  model),  they  still  had 
actually  commenced  a  withdrawal  of 
a  portion  of  their  troops.  Soon  after 
Gen.  Taylor  came  upon  the  plain,  an 
attack  on  our  side,  probably  in  the 


22 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


belief  of  this  withdrawal,  was  ordered 
and  made  by  the  three  regiments  that 
held  the  heads  of  the  two  main  val 
leys.  Harden's  and  Bissell's  Illinois, 
and  McKee's  Kentucky  regiments, 
some  fifteen  hundred  men  in  all, 
which  were  supported  in  rear  by  three 
guns  under  Lieut.  O'Brien,  one  of  the 
most  noble,  gallant  men  on  that  field. 
These  men  moved  forward  in  an 
echelon  line  towards  the  next  valley, 
just  above  referred  to ;  the  existence 
of  which,  from  the  clearness  of  the  at 
mosphere,  they  could  not  suspect  even, 
the  whole  succession  of  ridges  in  front 
appearing  as  but  a  simple  plain.  But 
as  they  neared  this  ravine,  within 
some  fifty  to  eighty  yards  only,  an 
immense  force  of  some  five  thousand 
to  seven  thousand  men  suddenly  rose 
as  it  were  from  the  open  earth  upon 
them,  "six  to  seven  lines  deep,"  as 
one  officer  stated  to  me,  and  outflank 
ing  them  in  both  directions.  There 
was  nothing  then  for  them,  but 
"  Sauve  qui  pent;  "  and  our  men  fled 
to  the  rear  as  best  they  could,  a  large 
part  taking  refuge  and  escaping  down 
the  first  valley  to  their  right,  just  in 
rear  of  our  former  lookout  spur,  and 
down  this  valley  also,  on  either  side, 
passed  the  Mexicans  in  full  pursuit. 
It  seems  they  sent  word  to  their 
cavalry  to  meet  our  men  at  the  mouth 
of  the  valley,  near  the  road,  and  thus 
holding  the  broken  regiments  com 
pletely  caught  in  a  cul-de-sac  ;  and  the 
work  of  massacre  began,  and  finished 
only  when  no  more  were  left  for 
slaughter.  Survivors  who  escaped  re 
lated  to  me  that  they  saw  parties  of 
our  men  giving  up  their  arms  and 
bowing  low,  even  kneeling  in  Mexi 
can  fashion,  to  surrender  to  the  cav 
alry,  who,  while  retaining  their  arms, 
called  to  their  infantry  to  shoot  them. 
Col.  Bissell  told  me,  that,  finding  a 
narrow  gulley  of  six  or  eight  feet  deep, 


he  took  to  that  for  safety,  at  the  same 
time  calling  to  McKee  and  Clay,  re 
treating  on  the  hillside  to  his  right, 
to  take  that  cover  also.  Bissell  kept 
this  shelter  till  near  the  road,  when  a 
run  of  one  hundred  yards  brought 
him  under  the  cover  of  Washington's 
guns.  Col.  McKee  continued  on  the 
exposed  hillside,  and  was  killed.  Lieut.- 
Col.  Clay,  at  first  wounded,  was  car 
ried  off  by  three  of  his  men,  whom  he 
begged  would  leave  him  and  save 
themselves ;  but  the  noble  fellows  still 
bore  him  on,  till  all  were  slaughtered 
in  cold  blood.  Col.  Harden  had  all 
but  escaped,  when  he  was  seen  at  the 
very  top  and  end  of  the  next  spur,  in 
front  of  his  own  men,  then  under 
Richardson,  in  conflict  with  a  lancer ; 
and  when  they  went  out  to  bring  in 
his  body  a  few  minutes  after,  they 
found  the  dead  lancer  and  his  horse 
beside  him,  and  the  lance  half  cut  off 
by  Harden's  sword :  that  sword  was 
gone,  but  the  scabbard  still  remained 
belted  to  the  waist,  as  they  had  not 
time  to  take  it.  Within  half  an  hour 
after,  I  saw  the  body  of  that  gallant 
officer,  with  the  lance  and  scabbard, 
laid  upon  the  ground  in  the  tent  where 
Jeff  Davis  was  lying  with  his  wounded 
foot.  One  man,  and  one  man  only, 
was  saved  here  that  they  had  power 
to  kill ;  he  was  afterwards  my  train 
master,  after  his  discharge  from  Bis 
sell's  regiment.  He  told  me  he  had 
taken  cover,  and  thought,  "  they  had 
just  got  in  good  shooting  distance," 
when  he  saw  that  no  one  of  his  regi 
ment  was  near  him.  Turning  to  run, 
he  was  met  by  two  Mexicans  with 
unloaded  guns,  one  of  whom  struck  at 
him  with  the  bayonet,  the  other  with 
the  breech  of  his  piece,  when  an  offi 
cer  approached,  and,  knocking  up  their 
muskets,  called  out  "  dollar "  to  him. 
He  at  once  handed  him  a  belt  with 
sixty  dollars  in  it ;  and  this  officer  then 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


23 


and  afterwards  saved  his  life.  The 
rnen  had  been  paid  but  a  few  days 
before  the  fight;  and  many  of  them 
had  hundreds  of  dollars  even  on  their 
persons,  which  made  it  impossible  for 
the  wounded  to  escape,  as  is  often 
done,  feigning  death ;  for  the  search 
for  this  plunder  was  too  vigilant  to  be 
deceived. 

The  portion  of  our  men  that  were 
forced  directly  to  the  rear  on  the  plain 
without  being  near  enough  to  take 
cover  in  the  ravine,  were  followed 
closely  by  another  party  of  this  over 
whelming  force,  up  to  tae  very  muz 
zles  of  O'Brien's  pieces,  all  three  of 
which  they  captured,  after  that  gal 
lant  officer  had  abandoned  them,  limp 
ing  off,  himself  wounded,  with  but  a 
single  artillerist  remaining  with  him. 
Lieut.  Franklin  (now  Gen.)  saw  a 
Mexican  officer  deliberately  ride  up 
to  the  head  horse  of  one  of  the  guns, 
and,  taking  him  by  the  bridle,  turn 
him  round,  and  thus  capture  the  piece. 
But  this  hitherto  resistless  return 
charge  was  now  met  by  another  fire 
still  more  resistless  as  it  proved,  —  that 
of  the  guns  of  Bragg  and  Sherman, 
which  reached  the  plain  at  the  most 
opportune  moment.  These  batteries, 
as  previously  stated,  had  been  resting 
and  recruiting  in  the  ravine  below, 
when,  as  those  regiments  moved  for 
ward  to  the  charge,  Capt.  (now  Gen.) 
I.  H.  Eaton,  Gen.  Taylor's  aid,  came 
down  to  order  them  forward  to  the 
plain,  urging  them  witn,  "  The  gen 
eral  wants  you :  up,  up,  or  you  will  be 
too  late  !  "  Both  batteries  sprang  for 
ward,  and  the  fresh  horses  of  Bragg 
took  the  lead ;  and,  in  the  narrow  prac 
ticable  roadway,  the  senior  officer, 
Sherman  had  to  follow  in  rear ;  but  he 
rose  the  plain  close  upon  Bragg,  throw 
ing  his  line  forward  at  an  angle  with 
him,  when  both  poured  a  cross-fire 
over  the  same  ground,  which  repelled 


this  last  impetuous  charge  of  the  en 
emy/and  thereby  saved  the  day5,' an 
achievement  unjustly  attributed  to 
Bragg  alone  in  the  official  report.  I 
say  unjustly ;  but  it  is  the  only  injus 
tice  that  I  am  aware  of  that  the  good 
Gen.  Taylor  has  ever  even  appeared  to 
be  responsible  for.  It  was  unjust  to 
wards  Sherman ;  for  he  had  previously 
been  kept  by  a  positive  and  very  un 
just  order  from  the  command  of  his  own 
company  (then  under  Bragg,  his  act 
ual  lieutenant),  at  Monterey.  Again, 
as  Bragg  first  rose  the  plain  with  his 
pieces,  probably  he  alone  was  then  seen 
by  Bliss  ;  and  his  favoring  *•*»  held 
Bragg  only  in  viewv  in  the  making  up 
of  the  reports  to  the  general. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  remark 
was  made  which  was  changed  to  be 
come  so  famous,  "  A  little  more  grape, 
Capt.  Bragg,"  so  apt  and  useful  after 
wards  for  orations,  and  for  dinners  to 
this  officer.  As  the  captain  reached 
the  plain,  seeing  no  infantry  near,  he 
rode  to  Gen.  Taylor,  saying,  "  I  have 
no  support ;  they  will  take  my  pieces." 
And  the  General  replied,  "  They  will 
take  them  anyhow,  fire  away ; "  add 
ing,  as  Bragg  told  mo,  unluckily  for 
the  poetry  of  the  story,  "  Give  'em 
hell,  Bragg."  How  well  this  injunc 
tion  was  obeyed,  the  shattered  ranks 
of  the  assailants  bore  ample  witness. 
The  whole  force  was  suddenly  driven 
back  with  great  slaughter.  I  counted 
nine  dead  the  next  morning  in  one 
group, — heap,  I  may  say,  —  and  scores 
of  others  lying  near,  under  the  cross 
fire  of  this  artillery. 

I  may  here  mention  that  serious 
doubts  existed  afterwards  as  to  au 
thority  of  the  order  for  that  last  fatal 
charge;  it  being  stated  that  Gen. 
Taylor  had  denied  that  he  gave  such 
orders,  and  much  feeling  arose  among 
the  officers  of  the  regiments  that  suf 
fered  against  the  person  who  bore  U.  * 


24  Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


order,  Capt.  Cliilton  (since  the  rebel 
adjutant-general  of  Lee)." 

This  officer,  whatever  peculiarities 
of  character  he  might  have,  was  a 
man  of  undoubted  gallantry  and  truth ; 
and  he  sacredly  vouched  to  Major 
Mansfield,  who  told  me  within  a  day 
or  two,  that  Gen.  Taylor  did  most  as 
suredly  give  him  the  order  for  this 
charge.  The  careful  major  cautioned 
him,  as  a  young  captain,  not  to  insist 
upon  this  against  the  General's  denial. 
I  cannot  doubt  that  the  good  old  Gen 
eral  did  really  issue  this  order  while 
in  the  excitement  of  the  moment ;  pos 
sibly  it  did  not  rest  upon  his  mind : 
it 'was  an  order,  that,  but  for  the  op 
portune  arrival  of  our  artillery,  would 
have  insured  our  destruction.  I  was 
told  by  those  who  witnessed  the  in 
terview,  that  the  brave  but  impulsive 
Harden  was,  at  about  that  time, 
most  earnestly  urging  upon  Cols. 
Bissell  and  McKee  to  join  him  in 
making  such  a  charge ;  these  officers 
at  length,  still  doubtful,  assenting, 
though  I  was  assured  the  order  also 
reached  them  before  their  own  pro 
posed  movement  could  be  carried  out. 

This  last  bloody  strife,  again  stilled 
by  another  violent  shower,  closed  the 
contest  for  the  day.  But  an  hour  or 
two  after,  or  a  short  time  before  sun 
set,  we  saw  their  heavy  battery  at 
the  upper  part  of  the  plain  limbered 
up  as  if  for  a  movement,  supported  by 
some  three  thousand  to  four  thousand 
infantry,  which  we  feared  were  ar 
ranging  for  a  final  overwhelming 
charge  upon  us.  Gen.  Taylor  sent 
me  over  to  the  spur  on  our  right,  near 
the  road,  to  get  the  battalion  of5  Rich 
ardson  to  move  up  the  ridge  to  be 
ready  to  assist  the  broken  remnants 
of  their  own,  Harden's,  and  the  other 
regiments,  to  resist  the  expected  as 
saults.  With  great  difficulty,  and  only 
after  directing  their  officers  to  take 


the  list  of  those  reporting  as  tired, 
sick,  or  wounded,  I  at  length  succeed 
ed  in  getting  them  out  of  their  slight 
breastwork,  and  partly  up  the  ridge, 
to  be  nearer  at  least,  and  in  time  to 
aid  in  case  of  need,  should  this  force 
(which  I  was  closely  watching  with 
my  glass)  move  down  to  the  attack, 
which  fortunately  they  did  not  at 
tempt,  upon  our  shattered  lines. 

Here,  again,  the  Providence  above, 
or  our  good  fortune,  saved  us  from  the 
effects  of  another  blunder,  —  an  order 
given  by  our  other  old  general,  Wool. 
While  we  were  in  this  suspense,  and 
awaiting  what  we  feared  was  the  final 
grand  attack,  Gen.  Wool  sent  an  or 
der  to  May,  with  his  dragoons  and 
the  spy  company,  some  two  hundred 
and  thirty  in  all,  to  attack  that  heavy 
force,  when  Mansfield  rushed  up  to 
him,  and  urged  him  to  revoke  the  or 
der,  "  if  he  would  not  destroy  us,  as 
we  had  no  support  for  such  a  charge, 
if  they  were  driven  back."  The  gen 
eral  then  countermanded  it.  This 
the  major  told  me  at  our  own  mess  a 
day  or  two  after.  There  were  dis 
putes  about  this  order  also,  and  publi 
cations  by  Col.  May  denying  its  re 
ceipt.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  it 
was  given  and  countermanded.  The 
bearer  of  the  order,  the  interpreter, 
Addicks,  a  former  Texan  officer,  told 
me  he  carried  it ;  and  I  heard  Wool 
state  to  Jeff  Davis,  who  was  lying 
wounded  in  the  hospital,  that  he  sent 
it.  I  told  the1  actual  facts  to  Davis 
soon  after,  receiving  a  caution  as  to  the 
impolicy  of  truth-telling^'y^lnd  a  for 
mer  Texan  surgeon,  Irvine,  in  the  spy 
company,  told  me  that  he  heard  it  de 
livered,  and  that,  turning  to  his  com 
panions,  he  said,  "Good-by,  boys," 
with  the  feeling  that  tnis  was  to  be ' 
the  last  of  all  of  them. 

I  mention  these  circumstances   to 
show  some  of  the  confusions  and  mis- 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


takes  ever  incident  to  these  contests ; 
so  that  I  have  ever  since  then  charac 
terized  battles  as  but  a  series  of  blun 
ders,  when  he  who  happened  to  blun 
der  the  least  must  win  the  victory. 
They  show,  at  least,  how  often,  and  on 
what  slight  chances,  our  salvation 
hung  during  those  two  days  of  bitter 
strife. 

No  further  movement  was  now 
made  by  either  side,  until  the  sun  set 
and  the  night  closed  in,  when, 'after 
the  placing  of  our  pickets,  the  differ 
ent  groups  of  our  shattered  regiments, 
having  food  and  water  brought  to 
them,  for  the  most  part  lay  in  bivouac 
in  their  positions  at  the  heads  of  the 
ravines,  and  near  the  edge  of  the  plain. 
Gen.  Taylor,  from  the  exhaustion  of 
his  troops,  .declined  to  order  a  night 
attack  upon  the  enemy,  although  it 
was  again  suggested. 

After  visiting  the  outposts  near 
midnight,  I  lay  down  in  the  bitter 
cold,  just  outside  the  tent  where  were 
Davis  and  other  wounded  officers,  with 
Harden.  I  could  scarcely  rest,  till 
roused  up  about  three  o'clock  by  the 
cheering  news  that  Capt.  Prentiss, 
with  four  heavy  guns  and  his  lieuten 
ants  (now  generals)  Kickets  and 
Doubleday,  had  by  a  forced  march 
since  the  previous  night  passed  over 
nearly  sixty  miles  from  Montere}r  to 
join  us.  Gen.  Taylor  at  once  ordered 
them  from  Saltillo  to  re-enforce  us  on 
the  field.  The  satisfaction  was  in 
tense  with  which  we  found  we  had 
our  lost  guns  replaced,  even  in  greater 
fo»ce. 

As  daylight  approached,  I  began  to 
strengthen  the  breastwork  at  the  cen 
tre,  near  Washington's  battery,  taking 
the  wagons  from  the  roadway,  where 
they  had  been  left  to  be  ready  for  a 
rapid  charge  forward,  if  we  should 
wish  to  make  it ;  and  I  now  attempt 
ed  to  cover  the  whole  front  by  a  new 


parapet  of  earth,  well  satisfied  that 
now  we  could  make  no  such  forward 
charge. 

While  these  preparations  for  a  final 
defence  were  being  made,  at  the  ear 
liest  daylight,  there  came  a  faint  and 
uncertain  rumor  that  no  enemy  could 
be  seen  on  the  plain  abov£.  Then 
these  reports  grew  more  confirmed, 
till  at  length,  fifteen  or  twenty  min 
utes  after,  men  came  rushing  in  with 
the  welcome  intelligence  that  they 
had  been  a  long  distance  in  advance, 
and  that  no  enemy  was  to  be  seen, 
that  the  whole  army  of  Santa  Ana 
had  retired  during  the  night. 

By  this  time,  our  old  officers  were 
all  up,  and  out  of  the  two  or  three  tents 
pitched  near  Washington's  battery; 
and  Gen.  Wool  rushed  up  to  Gen. 
Taylor,  embracing  him  with  both 
arms,  with  the  exclamation,  "My 
God,  sir,  you  are  the  greatest  man  in 
the  country :  you  will  be  President  of 
the  United  States!"  Col.  Belknap 
(father  of  the  present  Secretary  of 
War)  then  embraced  Col.  Whiting, 
the  quartermaster-general;  and  this 
amusement  soon  became  general,  our 
older  officers  generally  joining  in 
these  hearty  congratulations  much 
more  than  the  junior. 

In  a  few  minutes,  Gen.  Taylor  di 
rected  me  to  order  the  batteries  down 
to  refresh  the  men  and  horses,  and  be 
prepared  to  make  pursuit.  I  then 
moved  forward  with  McCullough  to 
reconnoitre  the  route.  The  cavalry 
near  us  were  pushed  on  for  some  six 
or  eight  miles,  to  Encantada,  when 
it  was  found  that  the  withdrawal  of 
the  enemy,  which  must  have  com 
menced  with  the  earliest  darkness, 
was  complete,  with  the  bulk  of  all  his 
war  material  and  trains,  then  already 
passed  beyond  the  valley  of  the  Agua 
Xueva  even,  leaving  only  the  dead 
and  wounded,  and  a  few  stragglers, 


26 


Recollections  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


with  the  debris  of  his  camp-equipage, 
as  our  spoils  of  the  victory. 

Their  dead  were  some  three  hun 
dred  to  four  hundred ;  and  their  se 
verely  wounded  left  behind  amounted 
to  perhaps  double  that  number,  with 
two  hundred  to  three  hundred  strag 
glers.  Ty"e  found  here  also  the  evi 
dences  of  their  cruelty  in  the  bodies 
of  our  men  shot  through  the  head,  af 
ter  apparent  struggles  to  retreat  with 
lesser  wounds,  from  mile  to  mile  on 
this  route. 

The  hatred,  horror  even,  with 
which  these  people  had  been  taught 
to  think  of  us,  was  well  shown  by  a 
little  incident  in  this  scout.  As 
McCullough  and  myself  were  working 
our  way  through  the  chapparal  (or 
scrub-oak  brush)  some  five  or  six 
miles  in  advance  to  our  left  of  Encan- 
tada,  we  came  across  a  poor,  exhaust 
ed  Mexican  woman,  lost  in  the  retreat 
of  their  army.  She  was  sitting  under 
a  bush,  by  her  pony,  whose  saddle 
she  had  removed  from  its  severely 
galled  back.  I  have  her  in  my  mind's 
eye  now,  a  most  beautiful  woman,  of 
some  twenty-five  years,  with  large, 
liquid  hazel  eyes,  and  full  round 
cheeks,  with  but  the  faintest  tint  of 
the  Indian  shade.  She  was  neatly 
and  modestly  dressed,  wearing  kid 
gloves  with  the  tips  of  the  fingers  cut 
off.  She  would  scarcely  speak  to  us 
at  first;  but  at  length,  to  our  questions, 
admitted  she  had  lost  her  way,  that 
her  marido  was  killed  in  battle  the 
day  before,  and  that  she  was  famish 
ing  for  food  and  water.  I  offered  her 
food,  but  she  refused  it;  coffee  from 
my  canteen,  filled  just  before,  and  tell 
ing  her  it  was  'cafe,'  only  'cafe,' 
and  still  she  refused  it,  until  I  raised 
it  to  my  lips  and  drank  a  little,  when 
she  seized  it,  and  gorged  the  whole  of 
it  at  a  draught.  I  then  gave  her 
pUoncitto,  the  sugar-cakes  of  the 


country,  and  some  crackers,  which  she 
took,  then  for  the  first  time  looking 
up  most  gratefully.  "We  could  not 
but  suppose  that  she  had  feared  we 
would  poison  her ;  for  it  was  by  such 
ideas  that  the  ignorant  Mexicans  were 
induced  so  readily  to  murder  us  all. 
Such  a  barbarity  might  well  be  ex 
pected  from  these  savages,  who,  as  I 
learned,  after  capturing  wagons  loaded 
with  our  wounded  about  the  time  of 
their  attack  upon  the  Mississippi  regi 
ment,  had  deliberately  thrown  these 
poor  sufferers  out  of  the  wagons,  and 
murdered  them  in  cold  blood. 

The  cavalry  squadrons  under  Capt. 
Albert  Pike  (since  too  well  known  to 
our  country),  with  the  companies  of 
regular  dragoons  under  Lieuts.  R/uck- 
er  and  Carleton,(the  latter  subsequent 
ly  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Wool,  and  the 
historian  of  this  battlejjas  they  found 
no  prospect  of  reaching  the  enemy  by 
a  successful  pursuit,  soon  returned 
from  their  reconnoissai  ce ;  and  our 
main  efforts  were  at  once  directed  to 
the  care  of  the  wounded,  and  the  gath 
ering  in  of  our  heroic  dead.  Of  less 
than  three  thousand  noble  men  who 
stood  their  ground,  over  one-fourth, 
or  seven  hundred  and  fifty,  had  fallen  ; 
and  of  these,  over  one-third,  or  more 
than  two  hundred  and  seventy,  were 
dead ;  a  slaughter  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  battle-fields,  and  far  beyond 
that  of  our  former  bloodiest  contest, 
Lundy's  Lane,  where,  with  nearly  the 
same  force,  the  dead  were  over  one 
hundred  less. 

But  the  enemy  was  repelled,  fcis 
army  shattered  and  hurled  back  to 
their  own  capital,  our  position  was 
held,  and  the  field  of  Buena  Vista 
'won  by  this  gallant  band  of  volun 
teers  against  ten  times  their  numbers 
of  mostly  veteran  troopsf^tren.  Tay 
lor,  unambitious  but  to  do  right,  an 
honest,  reliable,  well-judging  soldier, 


SecolLctions  of  Mexico  and  Buena   Vista. 


27 


holding  these  qualities  in  common 
with  Grant  and  with  Thomas,  more 
than  any  three  prominent  officers  of 


the   army  I   have    ever   known,   be 
came  the  next  president  of  the  United 

States. 


tithomounf 


Binder 
Gaylord  Bros 

Makers 
Stockton,  Calif. 

WN  21.  1908 


